


Whenever You May Be

by Artemis_17



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: 1800s England, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, F/F, Gentleman Jack inspired, Nicole is English, Period-Typical Homophobia, Slow Burn, So is Doc, Time Travel, Victorian, Wayhaught - Freeform, because why not, no demons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-23
Updated: 2020-06-25
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:48:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 71,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23803366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Artemis_17/pseuds/Artemis_17
Summary: Waverly Earp and Nicole Haught were born in different centuries. A trip through time brings them together, but will the future keep them apart?
Relationships: Waverly Earp/Nicole Haught, Wynonna Earp/Doc Holliday
Comments: 345
Kudos: 541





	1. Oh baby girl, you don’t know me at all

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! This is my first ever attempt at writing fanfic... so I hope you enjoy! Would love any feedback in the comments, or you can tweet me @Artemis_1707. There's also a tiny bit of art on my twitter inspired by this fic, so if you want to see Nicole in a tophat then head on over there. https://twitter.com/Artemis_1707/status/1258035883044896769?s=20
> 
> This was inspired by a few of my favourite shows, obviously Wynonna Earp, Gentleman Jack and there's a hint of Timeless in there too.
> 
> The original idea to combine Wynonna Earp and Gentleman Jack came from a con panel where the cast were asked which tv programme they would like to see their character in. Kat's answer was Gentleman Jack... her wish is my command! Having said that, you absolutely do not have to have seen Gentleman Jack to understand what's going on in this fic!

* * *

_Dear Miss Waverly Earp,_

_I hope this letter finds you well. I am writing from the London Museum of Literature and the Written Word with a proposal. Your reputation in the field of unconventional history and languages has been brought to our attention here at the museum and we would like to recruit you for a new and exciting project._

_A recent discovery at the Haught Estate has brought a new piece to the museum’s collection: a new diary written by none other than Miss Nicole Haught herself. However, unlike her previous diaries which we have on display here, this particular piece is written entirely in code. None of our colleagues have seen anything similar to this before and despite our best efforts we have been unable to decipher it._

_We believe that the contents of this diary could shed new light on Haught’s life and would be an exciting new attraction for the museum’s Women in History exhibition. It is therefore in our best interests for this piece to be translated as soon as possible, and we believe that you are the perfect person for the job._

_Should you choose to accept this position, please get in contact with the museum and ask to be connected through to Jeannie Lucado. I am the lead curator for this project and eager to get started as soon as possible._

_I look forward to hearing from you soon,_

_Miss J. Lucado_

Waverly finished reading the letter through for the third time. The museum wanted _her_. A warm feeling washed over her as she let that fact settle. Years of studying in what some people (mainly her on/off boyfriend Champ Hardy) called a ‘pointless subject’ were finally paying off.

Waverly placed the letter down carefully onto her desk and smoothed out the creases, worried that it might disappear if she was anything but gentle. She could feel her excitement bubbling as she reached for her phone and copied in the museum’s number from the bottom of the letter. Four rings later, an enthusiastic sounding British man spoke down the line.

“Good afternoon this is the London Museum of Literature and the written word how can I help you today?”

“Hello, I was wondering if you could put me through to um” Waverly glanced back at the letter, “Jeannie Lucado? This is Waverly Earp calling about the Haught Diary?”

“Ah yes, you’ve been the talk of the office! She’s been expecting you. I’ll put you through now.”

“T-Thank you,” Waverly stuttered in surprise. The talk of the office?

A number of long seconds passed before Waverly heard a new voice down the line.

“Well Miss Earp, I hope it’s good news!”

“To be honest I’m still kind of in shock! Are you sure you want me?” Waverly chuckled nervously.

“Well, Haught’s work is very important to us here at the museum and deserves only the brightest minds working on it. We feel that you fall into that category.”

Waverly had never felt so complemented in her life, she was sure there was a blush creeping its way over her cheeks.

“Wow I … uh … don’t know what to say! Thank you.”

“Well you can start by accepting our offer!” replied Lucado calmly.

Waverly closed her eyes and took a shaky breath.

“Yes, of course. I would love to work on this with you guys.”

“Brilliant, I’ll get the paperwork through to you now and you can expect the diary to be with you by tomorrow evening. Welcome to the team Miss Earp.”

Waverly clicked off her phone and blinked stupidly at her reflection in the black screen. She had a slightly wild look in her eyes, the same one she would always get when faced with a new challenge. But this one was bigger than anything she had attempted before.

Heavy doubt started to settle on her chest. What if Lucado realised that she was relying on a 22-year-old from a small middle-of-nowhere town to make some kind of amazing historical discovery? Oh god, what if she couldn’t even crack the code?

She pushed out a breath through her nose in an attempt to stop herself from spiraling. This was no different to all the projects she had worked on before, all it needed was an organised approach, and lots and lots of research.

“First things first, who the hell is Nicole Haught?” Waverly mumbled to herself as she powered up her laptop. She wiped her sweaty palms on her jeans, pulled her hair up into a high ponytail and took another deep breath.

She glanced at the time in the corner of her screen: 4pm. Wynonna had said she would swing through at 5.30pm after she finished her shift over at BBD, which probably meant Waverly had until 7pm to start her research before she bothered to rock up.

Waverly sighed as she thought about her sister, Wynonna was probably her favourite person on Earth, but would it kill her to be on time just once?

Waverly typed ‘Nicole Haught’ into Google and clicked on the first link to a Wikipedia page. A flash of red in the top right corner of the page caught Waverly’s eye as she glanced over a painting of a woman. She was holding a top hat on her lap and wearing a high necked, heavy-looking black dress, which had buttons running diagonally up the front. The dress hugged her figure and covered every inch of her skin other than her hands and face.

And what a face it was. Chiseled cheek bones and jaw, deep brown eyes and fiery red hair pulled back in a bun with two ringlets brushing against either cheek. There was no denying that she was attractive.

Waverly swallowed thickly and quickly scrolled further down the page so the painting was no longer visible. Things must be bad in her love life if she thought a painting was sexy. She grabbed her notebook and pen and began to read the first paragraph.

_Nicole Haught is a diarist from 19 th century Britain. She was born on January 5th 1820 and died June 17th 1852 aged 32 (cause of death unknown). She is most famous for her collection of diaries, which document her life as a landowner on the Haught Estate. Unusually for a woman of these times, Nicole Haught was a businesswoman, a scholar of Science, namely Medicine and Astronomy, as well as having a keen interest in Boxing. _

_Whilst she couldn’t officially attend university, Haught travelled around Europe to learn as much as she could from male experts in the field. We know from her final diaries that she spent most of her later years under the instruction of Medical Man John Henry Holliday at their home in Churchley. Many speculate that the two were romantically involved, as not only did they share an estate, but no other relationship is ever mentioned throughout Haught’s diaries. In her third diary, she also mentions that whilst at home she much preferred to wear trousers; something that was absolutely unheard of in women’s fashion at these times._

Waverly found herself in awe of the other woman, she was some kind of super intelligent, fighting woman who defied the times and the expectations of her gender, and she even managed to find a man who would accept that about her. Champ couldn’t even wrap his head around the fact that beauty and brains weren’t mutually exclusive.

Waverly continued to scroll down the page, reading everything she could find that would tell her more about Nicole Haught. She found herself transported to another time, wondering what it would be like to live as a woman in the 1800s and marveling at the strength it must have taken to be a woman like Nicole Haught.

The sound of a car door slamming brought Waverly back to the present. She glanced at the time, 5.29pm, and then out the window. She almost choked when she saw it was Wynonna getting out of her truck.

Waverly couldn’t remember the last time Wynonna had actually turned up when she said she would. She glanced back at her computer screen and scrolled back up to the top of the page, so that she was staring at the painting again.

“Hey baby girl, who’s the ginger hottie?”

Waverly jumped so high out of her chair that she almost fell off it.

“Jesus Christ Wynonna! How did you get up here so fast? You were outside like two seconds ago.”

“You probably just lost track of time lusting over that painting,” Wynonna teased, sitting herself down on the edge of Waverly’s bed.

Waverly felt a blush rising as she stammered, “I was NOT lusting!”

“Jeez Waves calm down, you know I was just teasing you,” Wynonna winked as she pushed her sleeves up around her elbows. Waverly noticed that there was a black strap wrapped around her wrist, her eyes almost bugged out of her head when she realised it was a watch.

“Since when does Wynonna Earp own a watch?” Waverly asked, feigning shock.

Wynonna rolled her eyes as she replied “Dolls is making me wear one, something about needing me to be on time for work or some bullshit.”

“Well I for one am happy you’re finally learning to tell the time,” Waverly quipped.

“Very funny. So, are you going to tell me why you’re staring at a painting of some woman?”

Waverly launched into an animated retelling of her afternoon, from receiving the letter to all her research on Nicole Haught.

“I have to admit she sounds pretty badass, but somehow boring at the same time – who wants to devote all their time to learning? Yuck.”

Waverly sighed in disbelief, Wynonna could be so annoying sometimes.

“Wynonna, I literally devote all my time to learning.”

“My point exactly.”

“Hey!”

Wynonna grinned at her before pushing herself up from the bed and leaning over the back of Waverly’s chair, so she could see the computer screen.

“So let me get this straight, this woman wrote a load of diaries in plain English and then one of them she decided to write in code? Sounds like she’s a murderer to me.”

“Wynonna! You don’t know that!”

“What?? She’s obviously written all the murderey details in that diary, I bet that John Holliday dude was her partner in crime.”

Waverly just scoffed at Wynonna and closed the lid of her laptop.

“Well I guess I’ll find out when the diary arrives tomorrow.”

“I’m bored of this conversation now, drinks at Shorty’s?”

Waverly laughed before standing up from her chair and stretching.

“Sorry I can’t, I told Champ I would go to his.”

“Noooo Waves why are you still hanging out with that absolute shit-ticket?” Wynonna whined.

If she was being honest with herself, Waverly didn’t have a good reason for keeping Champ around. But dating options in Purgatory were somewhat limited and being with Champ was simple. Sure, maybe she was settling a little bit, but it wasn’t like she had a queue of people waiting to take her out.

“Wynonna don’t be mean, Champ’s… nice.”

“Wow Waves calm down with all the complements. You might be able to fool yourself into thinking he’s right for you, but you can’t fool me.”

Waverly looked down at her hands and started picking at her nails.

“Baby girl, look at me.” Wynonna’s voice was soft.

Tentatively, Waverly lifted her eyes so she was looking straight into Wynonna’s. Their usual trace of humour nowhere to be seen.

“As much as it grosses me out, it’s my job as your big sister to ask. How do you feel when you’re with Champ?”

Waverly shrugged.

“How am I meant to feel?”

“God, I don’t know like some kind of passion? Excitement? Like there’s a fire in your gut that you never want to put out? Can you honestly tell me about one time you’ve been with Champ and felt that?” Wynonna’s eyebrows were raised. Waverly suddenly felt uncomfortable under her stare, she didn’t want to admit to her sister that maybe she was right.

“Maybe it’s best if you go.” Her voice sounded small, defeated. Wynonna would be able to read her like an open book.

“Sure. But can you just think about it? You deserve something, some _one_ , more than this.” Wynonna strode forwards towards Waverly and wrapped her in a hug. Waverly pulled away and sniffed.

“Yep.”

“I’ll see you later?”

“Sure.”

Wynonna spun around and left the room. Waverly didn’t breathe out until she heard the car engine start and the sound of the tires moving off over the gravel.

Waverly moved over to her bed and fell face first onto the duvet, groaning into her pillow. The truth was she had never felt those things for Champ, or any guy who she had dated. But she kept going back because she was scared that maybe this was all life had planned for her.  
Waverly pulled out her phone and sent Champ a text.

 **Waves:** Hey, I’m feeling a little under the weather, rain check?

 **Champ:** Is it your ‘woman’ time again? (puking emoji)

Waverly scrunched up her face at Champ’s crude response. Wynonna was right, she could definitely do better than Champ Hardy. She pushed herself off the bed, grabbed her jacket and made her way out the door, sending Wynonna a text as she walked down to her Jeep.

 **Waves:** Hey Nonna, I’ll be at Shorty’s in 10 <3

 **Wynonna:** Hell yeah baby girl. Whisky’s on me!

==========

Waverly could hardly contain her excitement as she tore through the layers of plastic packaging. The parcel had arrived as promised the following evening, and she was eager to start working on it. She reached inside and pulled out a bundle of bubble wrap with a post-it-note stuck to the front.

_Good luck Waverly, we’re counting on you!_

_-Lucado_

_p.s. don’t forget gloves!_

Waverly opened the top draw in her desk and retrieved a pair of white cotton gloves, reserved for handling only the most delicate artefacts. She cut open the top of the package and slid the diary out into her hands.

It was a beautiful book: deep red leather stretched around the front and back covers and thick high-quality pages sat in between. Waverly smoothed her hands over the spine and sighed, she would never tire of this feeling; the feeling of holding a piece of history. They really didn’t make books like this anymore.

She brought the diary up to her nose and breathed in deeply, the calming ‘old book smell’ that she loved so much filling her lungs. Her favourite books were those which had something unique about them, that hinted at the person who had held them first. This one smelled vaguely of vanilla.

She placed the diary down onto the desk and turned on her lamp as she sat down in front of it. Before lifting the front cover, Waverly muttered a silent prayer that she would be able to make sense of the code. She desperately wanted to prove that Lucado’s belief in her wasn’t misplaced.

Carefully opening the diary, her eyes settled onto the first page of scribbles. Scanning over the symbols, Waverly was relieved to recognise some of them. She cast her mind back to her studies in an attempt to place them.

“Aha! Ancient Greek!”

She slid her notepad towards her and began to translate the first few words. However, her advances soon ground to a halt when she noticed there were other symbols all throughout the passage.

“Ah shit balls. Guess Ancient Greek would’ve been too easy huh?”

“You talking to yourself again Waves?”

Waverly jerked forwards in surprise, hitting her knee on the edge of the desk.

“Owww what the hell Wynonna? Where did you even come from?” Waverly could have sworn she hadn’t heard the front door.

“Well it’s funny, I did this thing where I pulled up outside in my car, got out, came through the front door, walked up the stairs and then came into your room. Since when did you get so unobservant?”

Waverly supposed it was entirely plausible that she had been so engrossed in her work that she had zoned out for a while, it definitely wouldn’t have been the first time. Wynonna’s eyes glanced over to the desk and fell onto the open diary.

“Is that the hottie’s diary? Knowing you you’ve already cracked it and translated the whole thing.”

Waverly rolled her eyes, “It only arrived about 10 minutes ago Wynonna.”

“And your point is?”

Waverly chuckled, to be fair to Wynonna, she had always boasted to everyone about how clever Waverly was, and threatened to ‘beat down’ anyone who disagreed. She’d only followed through with it once, and that was with Champ.

“Well, I thought it was Ancient Greek, but it’s mixed with some other symbols I don’t recognise. You want to take a look?”

Adjusting her leather jacket, Wynonna sauntered over to the desk, glanced at the diary and then retreated back to the bed, putting her hands behind her head.

“Sorry kid, I can’t read Math.”

Waverly froze.

“What did you say?”

“Don’t get up on me about this now, you know I skipped like every Math class. Come to think of it I skipped every class, but that’s besides the point!”

Waverly was too busy reading the code to process what her sister was saying.

“That’s it! Wynonna, it’s a mixture of Ancient Greek and algebra! Ahhh I could kiss you!”

Waverly jumped up from her chair and launched herself onto Wynonna, peppering kisses all over her cheek.

“Ugh gross cut it out Waves! I didn’t even do anything!” Wynonna smirked as she wrapped her arms around her sister.

“You probably would’ve figured it out by yourself anyway,” she mumbled quietly into the top of Waverly’s head.

Waverly gave Wynonna a tight squeeze, “Can you just accept the fact that you helped?”

“Sure thing.”

Waverly rolled out of Wynonna’s embrace and sat upright on the bed.

“We should celebrate! I have a bottle of wine downstairs.”

Just as she spoke, a faint beeping sound began to echo around the room. Waverly turned her head in confusion at her laptop, but it wasn’t open. Wynonna jumped off the bed, pressed a button on the side of her watch and the beeping stopped as suddenly as it had started.

“What the-“

“It does that on the hour every hour, bit annoying really, did you say wine downstairs? Want me to get it? Stay here, back in a sec.” The words were tumbling out of Wynonna’s mouth so quickly Waverly hardly had time to register what she had said. Wynonna jogged out of the room before she had a chance to respond.

“Oookay then.” Waverly had hardly had a moment to work out what had made Wynonna so jumpy, before she returned back into the room with a bottle of red and a single glass. Waverly frowned as she took in Wynonna’s appearance, her hair looked disheveled and she’d replaced her leather jacket with a raincoat.

“Hey, why did you switch jackets?”

“Huh?”

“You were wearing a leather jacket before.”

“No, I wasn’t.” Wynonna was looking everywhere in the room other than at Waverly.

“Yes, you were.” Waverly narrowed her eyes in suspicion as she further scrutinized her sister. She was sure she had been wearing a leather jacket before, hadn’t she? Wynonna shimmied off her jacket and hung it behind the door.

“There, now I’m not wearing any jacket. Or to you does it look like I just put on a tutu?”

Maybe Wynonna _had_ been wearing the raincoat before? She grimaced at her mistake and patted the space next to her on the bed. Wynonna sat cross legged in front of her and handed her the glass, filling it with wine. Waverly raised her eyebrow at her sister.

“Don’t you need a glass?”

Wynonna winked as she took a long swig straight from the bottle.

“Oh baby girl, you don’t know me at all.”

==========

When Waverly woke the next morning, she instantly regretted the heavy night of drinking that had gone before. Her tongue felt like cotton and she had a pounding headache pressing into the back of her eyeballs. With a groan, she dragged herself off the bed and padded downstairs to the kitchen in search of water.

She spotted Wynonna snoring on the couch and smiled to herself. Ever since Wynonna had come back to Purgatory a few years back and had somehow secured a job as an agent with BBD, she’d been much more constant in Waverly’s life.

Waverly filled two glasses with water from the tap and placed one down besides Wynonna, before returning back up to her bedroom.

After a hot shower, Waverly threw on some sweatpants and sat down in front of the diary once more. Now she knew that the code was a combination of Ancient Greek and algebra, it should be relatively simple to map out the alphabet, and then the diary itself.

She set to work, only pausing once to refill her water and grab a snack from the kitchen. By the time Wynonna appeared in Waverly’s doorway demanding coffee, it was 11.30am and Waverly had not only deciphered Nicole’s alphabet, but she had also committed it to memory to speed up the translation process. Waverly sighed as she swiveled around in her chair to face her sister.

“Wynonna how many times do I have to tell you the coffee pods are in the cupboard over the sink, all you have to do is put one in the machine and turn it on.”

“But it tastes like ass when I do it.” Wynonna pouted and fluttered her eyelashes at Waverly.

“Or you’re just the laziest person on the planet,” Waverly suggested.

“Yeah that too,” Wynonna grinned as she followed Waverly back down into the kitchen.

===========

Wynonna had left after a quick call from Dolls and some faint mumblings of a lunch date. Wynonna had denied that there was anything going on between the two of them besides work, but Waverly hadn’t been convinced. However, she was thankful for the absence of her sister, as she could finally get back to work.

With the code memorised, she began to read and type simultaneously.

_The matters which I wish to discuss in this diary are somewhat delicate, and I have therefore taken measures to protect myself and others in case these pages were to fall into the hands of another._

Waverly raised her eyebrows as she read. Maybe Wynonna was right, this did kind of sound like something a criminal would write. Was she about to ruin Nicole Haught’s reputation? Her eyes continued to move hungrily over the page.

_If I were a man, my urges would not warrant a second glance. I would be free to express my love with whom I please, and even make such love official in the eyes of God and the law. Yet I am cursed to be in the body of a woman. A woman who feels about women the way she ‘should’ feel about men._

Waverly’s eyes widened as she re-read her translation.

“Oh.”

Nicole Haught was… a Lesbian?

==========

“Lesbian? Are you sure you translated it right Waves? Did they even exist back then? Think I preferred it when she was a murderer.”

“Oh believe me Wynonna, she was _definitely_ gay.”

Over the past two weeks, Waverly had spent night and day pouring over Nicole’s writings. She had discovered stories of Nicole’s numerous encounters with women during her travels as well as her first serious love: Miss S. Pressman. She had documented every detail of their romance, from the subtle flirting to their first kiss. She had even written about the long nights they had spent together, which had made Waverly blush on more than one occasion. At times she had felt awkward, as if she was invading the other woman’s privacy, but at the same time she just couldn’t stop herself from reading further.

After a nasty break-up in which Miss Pressman had left Nicole to marry a man, there had been a brief involvement with a local woman called Miss B. Gardner.

“I’ve just started a new section where she talks about some lady called Miss W. Edison, she sounds pretty taken with her. Like literally the first thing she says about her is ‘I’ve known Miss W. Edison but 24 hours, and yet I feel I will never be the same.’”

Wynonna took a sip from her coffee before placing her mug back on the table.

“She sounds like quite the chick magnet,” Wynonna wiggled her eyebrows and Waverly giggled.

“She sure knows how to please the ladies I’ll give you that,” Waverly blushed as she thought back to one particularly racy passage.

“Waverly Earp don’t tell me you have a crush on a dead lady.”

“What? No! Jesus Wynonna, why do you always take things too far?” Waverly grumbled into her mug. She didn’t have a crush, but she had to admit she was becoming dangerously invested in Nicole’s life.

Wynonna’s watch beeped and she jumped up out of her seat.

“Just going to the bathroom, back in a sec.”

Waverly rolled her eyes. Over the past two weeks, Wynonna had been getting more and more edgy, making excuses to leave the room at seemingly random times every time her watch beeped. To make things more suspicious, there was always something slightly different about her when she returned.

One time she had woken up from a nap on Waverly’s couch, gone to the bathroom and then complained she needed to take a nap when she returned. Another time, she had left to get Chinese takeout and had returned ten minutes later in an entirely new outfit with no food, and Wynonna _never_ got distracted when it came to food.

Whenever Waverly confronted her about it, Wynonna brushed her off, telling her she was unobservant or turning into a crazy cat lady but without the cats. But Waverly knew something was going on, she just couldn’t come up with a viable theory.

Wynonna returned from the bathroom a few moments later, sporting a large red welt on her forehead.

“Wynonna what the hell?”

“Calm down Waves, I just uh, hit my head on the sink.”

It sounded more like a question than a statement. Waverly stared at her sister in disbelief and shook her head. She felt angry that Wynonna was obviously hiding something, and that she didn’t trust her own sister enough to tell her what was going on.

“You’re unbelievable.”

“Well that’s what happened, so end of story.”

“How about you don’t talk to me again until you decide that you’re going to be honest with me?”

Wynonna stood up from the table, her chair falling over behind her, and walked towards the front door.

“Fine by me!” She called over her shoulder as she stuck up her middle finger at Waverly, before slamming the door behind her.

===========

_If I allow myself to believe, I do think that Miss W. Edison would make the perfect wife. She is all I dream about, my hands on her body, her fingers in my hair._

A clap of thunder made Waverly jump. She rubbed her eyes and glanced at the time, it was past midnight. With a yawn she shut her computer and stood from her desk. Something about Nicole’s diary made her lose all sense of time.

In the past week, she hadn’t heard anything from Wynonna. If she hadn’t still been angry with her, she’d be impressed that she had been able to stay away from Waverly’s supply of coffee, alcohol and cooked food.

However, Wynonna’s absence had given her plenty of time to work on the diary. So much so, that she had only 2 pages left to translate before she was completely finished.

Towards the back of the book, she had discovered an old photograph. It was obviously a copy of the original, but it still looked aged and stained in places. It was a portrait of Nicole, not dissimilar to the painting from the Wikipedia page. Waverly had brushed her fingers over Nicole’s face and sighed, she really was very attractive.

However, there was something about Nicole’s eyes in the photo that just radiated sadness. It even got to the point that Waverly had had to put the photo face down on her desk to stop herself from welling up for some unknown reason every time she looked at it.

As she brushed her teeth and stared at her reflection in the mirror, she found her mind wondering to Nicole Haught and Miss Edison. The way Nicole had described her feelings towards the other woman, it was like she worshipped her like some kind of goddess. Their pairing seemed almost like destiny, fitting together like two pieces of a puzzle. What Waverly wouldn’t give to feel a love like that.

Suddenly she heard the front door slam.

“Waverly?” She heard someone shout from the kitchen.

“Wynonna?” Waverly spluttered, toothpaste spilling from her mouth into the sink.

“Waverly you’ve got to come with me right now,” Wynonna appeared at the top of the stairs, her clothes soaked through and a gash on her arm.

Waverly spat into the sink and wiped her mouth. “Wynonna what the hell is going on? You can’t just turn up in the middle of the night!”

“Waverly, save the friggen lecture okay?” She pushed past Waverly and practically sprinted into her room.

She grabbed one of Waverly’s backpacks from under the bed and started throwing random stuff into it.

“Wynonna can you stop for one second and tell me what is going on?”

Their eyes met and Waverly could see nothing but panic in them.

“I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what’s going on!” Waverly folded her arms over chest, and stamped her foot, refusing to be kept in the dark any longer.

A moment passed as Wynonna’s eyes searched Waverly’s to see if she was bluffing.

“Ugh, you’re so annoying! Okay you really want to know? BBD has invented a way to travel through space and time,” Wynonna held up her wrist and pointed to her watch, “surprise surprise, this isn’t really a watch Waves. A few weeks back a guy called Bobo Del Ray and a group of his men broke into our facility and stole most of the devices we’d developed. I’ve been running around after them trying to get them back for weeks. I may or may not have really pissed them off now though so if that’s enough information for you WE NEED TO GO RIGHT NOW.”

==========

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that is the end of chapter 1! Please leave a comment or Kudos if you so desire! As I said before this is my first ever attempt at writing fanfic so any feedback would be amazing!  
> You can also talk to me on twitter @Artemis_1707. 
> 
> I've already written this whole thing so I'm planning on uploading once a week.
> 
> BIG THANKS to @Earperfamily who encouraged me to write this fic in the first place and for being my Beta :)


	2. When the hell are we?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for everyone who left a comment or kudos on my first chapter! It was amazing to see that people were eager for more!  
> Here is chapter two... a certain redhead may or may not be making an appearance...

The wipers of Waverly’s jeep were moving furiously across the windscreen as Wynonna sped towards BBD headquarters downtown. They’d been sat in silence since Wynonna had told her she could time travel. As she stared out the window into the stormy night, she could see Wynonna steal anxious glances towards her.

“Waverly can you please just say something?” Wynonna pleaded as she sped through a red light.

Waverly turned in her seat so she was angled towards her sister.

“You’re awful at time travel.”

“Seriously? I tell you I can travel through time and all you have to say is I’m _bad_ at it?”

Waverly threw her hands up off her lap in frustration.

“Consistency is key Wynonna! Haven’t you ever seen Doctor Who? Timeless? Back to the Future? You have been all over the place this past month and guess what? I noticed! And you had the audacity to tell me that _I_ was the crazy one!” Waverly folded her arms and pouted, “I could have helped you.”

Wynonna’s eyebrows were furrowed.

“Waverly, I swear you are the most confusing person on the planet.”

As Wynonna pulled up in front of BBD she grabbed one of Waverly’s hands and gave it a small squeeze.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you Waves, I swear I wanted to! But Dolls made me promise not to tell a living soul, it was a whole thing.”

One look at Wynonna’s pleading eyes and Waverly’s hard resolve melted. She couldn’t stay mad at her when she gave her that look.

“Ugh fine, I forgive you. Now can you tell me what is so urgent that we had to come down here at 1am?”

The two women got out the car and made their way into the building, pausing only for Wynonna to scan her thumb to unlock the front door.

“So, I told you about this guy Bobo? Since breaking in and stealing our devices he’s been going through history and wreaking havoc. Just last week I stopped one of his agents trying to kill some lady called Harriet Tubman.”

Waverly felt her jaw slacken.

“Woah hang on. You’re telling me that you met Harriet Tubman? Like THE Harriet Tubman??”

Wynonna shrugged uninterestedly as she shouldered her way through another door at the end of the corridor. Waverly blinked at her sister and shook her head. Time travel was seriously wasted on her.

“Anyway, the past few days Jeremy’s been noticing some unusual activity on our servers, someone’s been hacking in and stealing information.”

“Don’t tell me you’ve got the blueprints for the devices on those servers Wynonna?” The pitch of Waverly’s voice raised a few octaves as she considered the implications of what her sister was telling her.

“You think we’re stupid? No, all that stuff is on some hard drive somewhere, Dolls keeps it on him at all times.”

Waverly breathed out in relief, before realising there was obviously still some emergency otherwise she would be cocooned in 5 blankets right now.

“So… what exactly is the problem?”

Wynonna came to a halt in front of a door and shifted uncomfortably.

“Well they may or may not have stolen all our staff records… which may or may not involve a certain someone’s sister…” Wynonna glanced apologetically at Waverly before continuing, “and they may or may not have sent me a message telling me they were going to kill said sister if I didn’t give them the blueprints to the building.” Wynonna grimaced as she pushed open the door and walked inside.

Waverly made no attempt to follow her sister through into the next room. She couldn’t seem to make her feet move. The door in front of her swung open and Wynonna’s head popped out.

“Waverly, I know I messed up but can you just get your butt in here so I can try and fix it?”

Waverly shuffled her feet forwards and squinted as her eyes adjusted to the overly bright lights of the office. There were machines flashing, ticking and beeping almost everywhere she looked. Whiteboards with complex equations sprawled all over them covered the walls.

In the corner there was even a clothes rail with a strange mixture of items on it, she spotted both a flared disco pantsuit that would make ABBA look casual and a huge ballgown that wouldn’t look out of place in a Jane Austen novel.

Never one to shy away from fashion, Waverly wandered over to the rail and brushed her fingers over the various fabrics. A light blue dress tucked towards the back caught her attention. She curled her fingers around the hanger and lifted it out from within the mix of clothes. Her breath hitched as she admired the full beauty of the piece. It was high-necked and long sleeved, admittedly not a style Waverly would usually go for, but it was extremely elegant. The top half of the dress was fitted so that it would highlight the curves of the waist, and then fanned out beautifully into a voluminous, ground-length skirt. Delicate buttons lined its front, from the seam at the waist right up to the neckline. She sighed as she imagined what it would feel like to wear such a thing.

“Waves stop giving heart eyes to a dress and come over here,” Wynonna called from behind her.

Begrudgingly, Waverly tore her eyes away from the dress and replaced it back onto the rail.

“I’d have to die before you caught me wearing one of those things,” stated Wynonna.

“Well luckily for you, they’ve been out of fashion for about 200 years, so I think you’re safe,” Waverly replied with only a hint of sarcasm.

“Here put this on.”

Wynonna placed a black device into Waverly’s palm and closed her fingers around it. It was the same device that Wynonna had been wearing for the past month around her wrist. Upon closer inspection, it was quite obviously not a watch. The panel had various buttons which could be used to input a specific date. Waverly raised an eyebrow at her sister as she watched her move around the room in search of something.

“Why are you giving me this?”

“Can you just put it on? In case something happens, I can take you with me.”

Waverly carefully adjusted the strap over her wrist so it was comfortable and put her backpack down onto the floor. She followed her sister as she went into a cupboard at the other side of the room.

“AHHHHHHHHHH!”

“What the fuck, Jeremy??!”

Wynonna jumped backwards out of the cupboard with a hand over her eyes, followed by a sheepish looking Jeremy struggling to pull a sweatshirt over his head. Waverly had only met him once or twice, but they had gotten on perfectly well, often launching into conversation over particularly nerdy subjects.

“Do you want to explain to me why you’re sleeping in a cupboard Jeremy?” Wynonna crossed her arms and tapped her foot against the ground.

“Wynonna I’ve said about a million times that I’m here day and night!”

“I didn’t think that was literal!”

Waverly could see that Jeremy was on the verge of freaking out. He was pacing back and forth in front of the two sisters. Suddenly he stopped and looked at the two of them.

“Wait why are _you_ here in the middle of the night? And why is Waverly with you?”

Jeremy smiled apologetically at Waverly as if he was sorry for calling her out. Instead of answering him she walked over to a safe in the corner, entered a five-digit code and pulled out two handguns from inside. Tucking one into her belt she lifted the second, handle first, towards Waverly.

Waverly hesitated before lifting her fingers up to wrap around the cool casing. It was lighter than she expected, but that didn’t make her feel any less resentful towards it. After all, it was a gun that had torn her family apart in the first place.

Waverly tucked it into her coat pocket and then looked back up at Wynonna who was eyeing her cautiously.

“Seriously Wynonna I am one second away from calling Dolls down here,” Jeremy warned. If his voice hadn’t cracked halfway through it would’ve sounded almost convincing.

“No!” Wynonna surged forwards and grabbed the neck of Jeremy’s hoody. “That is literally the worst thing you could do right now! Do not call Dolls, Jeremy. Do you understand me?”

Jeremy frantically nodded his head and let out a sigh of relief when Wynonna finally released him. He resumed his panicked pacing.

“Okay okay Jeremy just calm down, if you keep pacing I swear to god I will hit you.” Jeremy stopped as Wynonna continued, “One of Bobo’s guys sent me a nice little message when I was in 1982 yesterday. He told me that Waverly was going to die if I didn’t give them the blueprints to the building.”

“No no no Wynonna tell me you didn’t!” Jeremy started to walk before suddenly stopping again, remembering Wynonna’s threat. Waverly felt kind of bad for the guy, working with Wynonna had probably turned him into this nervous wreck in the first place.

Wynonna flung her arms out to the side in desperation.

“I didn’t have a choice Jeremy! If anything happened to Waverly I would die,” Wynonna’s voice broke on the last word, thick with emotion. Waverly felt a small glow in her heart at the sound of her sister’s words. Wynonna liked to act like the tough guy but it was nice to see her soft side every once in a while.

Wynonna sniffed before continuing, “but I’ve got it all under control. They’ll be coming here at some point and I’ll be waiting to take them out when they do. They’re obviously after Dolls’ hard-drive so as long as he doesn’t turn up then what’s the worst that can happen?”

“Earp.”

Both Waverly and Wynonna spun around so fast that Waverly had to steady herself on the edge of the desk to stop herself from falling over. Dolls was stood in the doorway. He had his arms folded over his chest and an extremely angry expression on his face.

Wynonna let out a panicked yell as she raced towards where he was stood. She placed both hands on his chest and shoved but his feet didn’t even move an inch.

“Dolls you need to leave right now!” She continued to try and push him out of the door, but without much luck.

“Earp, do you want to tell me what is going on?”

“Dolls just please please tell me this one time that you didn’t bring the hard-drive with you?”

A look of confusion flitted over Dolls’ face before he reached down the front of his t-shirt and pulled out a chain. Attached to the bottom was a small black USB drive.

Just then, a deafening explosion shook the floor. Wynonna’s head whipped around to Waverly’s. She thought she heard Wynonna shouting “SHIT!!”

And then all hell broke loose.

==========

“GET DOWN NOW!”

Waverly squeaked as Wynonna’s body crashed into her own, sending them both flying over an empty desk and down onto the ground. Waverly reached over to Jeremy who was stood frozen in fear and pulled him down next to her by his sleeve.

Dolls fired blindly out of the door and then dove away from the frame as the sound of returning gunfire echoed down the corridor. He positioned himself behind a large machine that was whirring in the corner, gun out ready in front of him.

Dolls lifted a finger to his lips, signaling to the three of them to be silent. Waverly could feel her heart hammering in her chest and closed her eyes tightly. She could hear it pounding in her ears and cursed, sure anyone within a mile radius would be able to hear it.

“Bobo said it was through here at the back.”

Waverly’s eyes snapped to Wynonna’s as they heard a man’s voice coming from outside the room. Another gunshot rung out and the glass window of the door shattered to the floor in tiny shards. A small sound of panic escaped Jeremy’s lips before he bit down on his jumper sleeve to try and silence himself.

“I can’t believe he actually came along this time.” A second voice replied to the first.

“Maybe he couldn’t trust you to get the job done.”

“Oi!”

The two men pushed their way into the room and could hardly argue the point further before Wynonna and Dolls simultaneously put bullets in their chests. As they fell heavily to the ground, Wynonna jumped up from behind the desk and ran over to their bodies. Bending down over them, she quickly slipped something off their wrists and threw them over to Waverly.

“Here put these in your bag, they sure as hell won’t be needing them.”

Waverly studied the objects before slipping them into her backpack. They were two more of the time travel devices, identical to the one she was currently wearing. Dolls stepped over the men on the floor and peered out into the corridor.

“All clear. Everyone okay?”

He looked around the group at everyone nodding as he let the door swing closed again.

“Okay. We need to get out. Now. I think it’s safe to say the front door is not an option and apparently Bobo is still around here somewhere, but if we can make it up to the roof, then we can use the fire escape to get back down to my truck. Got it? Here Jeremy take this.”

Dolls threw a small gun towards Jeremy, who jumped out the way as if he’d been thrown a live grenade.

“Nope no guns. I failed my fire-arms test remember? Like five times!”

Wynonna raised her eyebrows and gave Jeremy an incredulous look, “Dude you failed it five times? I passed on my first go and that was _after_ a bottle of whisky.”

“Earp, I’m going to pretend I didn’t just hear you say that,” Dolls warned.

Waverly couldn’t help but feel like there were more important things they should be doing than standing around and chatting about tests. She pulled her own gun out of her jacket and moved passed Dolls into the hallway.

When she didn’t hear anyone following her, she turned and hissed, “Guys, are we going or not?”

The sound of a gun cocking and a sudden pressure on the back of her skull made Waverly freeze in place.

“Oh, I would say, not.”

A deep, threatening voice came from behind her, and she instantly knew that it was Bobo Del Ray who had spoken.

A muscular arm snaked its way around Waverly’s neck and pulled her backwards against a large body. Instinctively she tried to pull away but was met with resistance. Another hand slammed painfully into her arm and twisted it behind her, causing her gun to clatter to the floor.

“Now now Waverly Earp we can all be civil about this. If you’re not careful my finger might accidently slip on this here trigger.”

Waverly felt the cold barrel of Bobo’s gun press into her temple, making her gasp.

“Don’t you fucking touch her,” Wynonna yelled as she surged forwards, but she was caught by Dolls before she could get any closer. Waverly heard Bobo snap his teeth together next to her ear and she shivered.

“Ah, Wynonna. Always trying to be the hero. You know what I want. Just hand it over and I’ll let your dear baby sister go.”

Waverly was staring at Wynonna, praying that just this once she had a plan. She didn’t want to die just yet, she’d hardly even lived.

Dolls slowly bent over and placed his gun on the floor, before straightening with his hands in the air. He jerked his chin at Wynonna and she hesitantly followed suit.

“Okay,” Dolls began slowly as he moved his hands towards his neck, “I’m just reaching for the drive, it’s hanging around my neck.” He pulled the chain out from under his shirt and lifted it up and over his head.

Without breaking eye contact with Bobo, he briefly put the drive to his lips before throwing it over Waverly’s head. She heard someone catch it, and noted that Bobo must have at least two other men with him, on account of the fact that she still had an arm around her neck, her arm, and a gun to her head.

Dolls continued to hold his hands up by his head as he spoke.

“Now, if you just let Waverly go, we won’t follow you out.”

Waverly felt the arms on her begin to relax and was just about to stumble back over to her sister before one of Bobo’s men ruined the moment.

“Uh… Boss? Is this thing like meant to be flashing and stuff?”

The grip on Waverly’s arm suddenly tightened and she cried out in pain as her shoulder twisted and the straps of her bag dug uncomfortably into her skin.

“What did you do to it?” Bobo growled furiously.

“I didn’t do anything to it. Now let. Waverly. Go,” Dolls replied. Waverly studied his expression. Either he really hadn’t done anything to it, or he had a really good poker face. She speculated that it was probably the latter.

Waverly felt herself being pulled backwards down the corridor and her legs slid against the floor as she struggled to keep her footing. With the mounting pressure against her throat it took all her effort to call out to Wynonna.

“Boss the flashing is getting faster…”

Bobo practically roared next to her.

“Tell me what you did now or I shoot her I swear.”

A gunshot rung through the air and time slowed down. Waverly noted that Jeremy was holding his gun out in front of him, the end of it smoking like it had just been fired. Someone was yelling behind her. Wynonna was sprinting towards her.

Waverly felt like she was being dragged in two directions; Wynonna was pulling her one way and Bobo the other. There was a faint clicking sound, and she was blinded by the brightest white light she had ever seen.

==========

Waverly felt herself drift in and out of consciousness. At one point, she noted the sharp feeling of gravel pressing all along her back as she lay on the ground. Another time, she felt a cool breeze blowing over her skin, skin which should’ve been covered by her jacket.

She tried to move her arms to cover herself, but they were like dead weights beside her. When she came to for what she thought might have been the 4th or 5th time, she was no longer on the ground.

She felt like she was floating sideways through the air. There were two poles lifting her up from underneath. Or were they arms? She didn’t know. She tried to open her eyes but she couldn’t see anything. Fleeting thoughts of Wynonna popped into her head, but they left just as quickly as she slipped back into the darkness once more.

==========

A bright morning light was streaming in through the window as Waverly hesitantly opened one of her eyes. She rolled over onto her side to try and work out why her blinds weren’t closed before flinching at the soreness that suddenly flared all over her body.

“Oww shit-balls. What happened last night?” Waverly’s voice came out low and gravelly and her throat burned. She couldn’t remember when she’d last had a drink. As she rolled back onto her back, she allowed her eyes to wonder around the room. It definitely wasn’t her own.

The walls were wooden panels, with low, thick beams stretching between them on the ceiling. There was a beautiful, ornate looking desk in the corner of the room, with only a candle, quill and pot of ink on its surface.

Somewhere in the back of Waverly’s mind she registered that that was slightly odd, but continued to scan her surroundings. Glancing out the window, she could see a few trees waving gently in the wind and green fields stretching down to a small stream.

She tried to remember who in Purgatory had their own private stream, but her thoughts were too jumbled to come up with any names. As she lay still, the memories of what had happened the night before started to return in disjointed pieces. She remembered the searing bright light and the feeling of being pulled apart.

Wynonna.

Oh god. What had happened to Wynonna?

Waverly sat up suddenly in the bed, regretting it instantly as the muscles in her back and shoulders screamed. Why did her chest feel so tight? As the sheets pooled around her waist, she glanced down at herself and did a double take. She was wearing _the_ dress. The beautiful, elegant blue dress which she had admired back at BBD. But why on earth was she wearing it in bed?

She cast her mind back to try and remember when she had even put it on, or perhaps more importantly, why she had put it on, but she had no recollection.

With some difficulty, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and shuffled forwards so her feet could reach the floor. Standing up straight, it took Waverly a moment to adjust to the heavy weight of her new outfit.

A flash of movement opposite her caught her eye, but she realised it was her own reflection in the mirror. She had to admit that the dress looked even more flattering now that it wasn’t just on a hanger; she looked like an extra from Sense and Sensibility.

The sound of muted voices brought her attention away from the mirror, and she spotted a door in the corner of the room. Carefully, she creeped over to it and placed her ear against the wood. She could just make a out a faint conversation between a man and a woman.

“Miss please calm down, your sister is right next door. She’s perfectly fine.” The man had a deep, calm voice and an English accent.

“Well then, you won’t mind if I check on her myself will you?”

Waverly heard footsteps approaching the door she was currently pressed up against and quickly jumped back to avoid getting hit in the face. The door flew open and Waverly’s eyes widened at what she saw. Wynonna was stood in a dress similar to her own, but in burgundy. It kind of suited her in an unexpected way, although one of the buttons had been pushed through the wrong hole, so that the top half of the dress was slightly out of line.

“Waves!” Wynonna pulled Waverly into a bone crushing hug as she pushed her further into the room. “Are you okay? Is anything broken?”

The combination of the hug and Waverly’s new dress were proving to be too much for her lungs.

“Wynonna. Can’t. Breathe.”

She gasped for air as Wynonna released her and let her hands drop to her sides.

“God what the hell happened to us?” Waverly asked as she rubbed her ribs.

Wynonna glanced behind her at the man who was still hovering in the other room and quickly shut the door between them.

She lowered her voice, “I have no clue. All I remember is trying to get you away from Bobo and then it’s like the USB-Drive just exploded or something. And then I woke up here, in this god-awful dress.”

A memory of Dolls brushing the drive to his lips flashed into Waverly’s mind.

“Do you think Dolls made it self-destruct or something?” Waverly whispered.

“Well if he did then he’s just plain stupid. He won’t be able to make any more devices without it.”

“But maybe he thought that was better than Bobo getting his hands on it?” Waverly offered.

“Maybe. Fuck knows what goes on in Dolls’ head.”

“Question is, where the hell are we?”

A knock on the door startled them both from their conversation.

“Come in?” Waverly squeaked.

A tall woman pushed her way through the door. She was wearing a high-necked, heavy looking black dress with buttons running diagonally across the front and long black jacket over the top.

She lifted a top hat from her head and red curls fell around her cheeks. As she stopped in front of the two sisters, she pulled off one of her gloves and stretched out her hand towards them. She flashed them a smile, and Waverly’s knees almost buckled at the sight of dimples.

“I hope you two are feeling better, quite an unusual situation even for us wasn’t it John?” She called over to the man as he leant against the door frame behind her. Waverly’s eyes were instantly drawn to his impressive mustache. “This is my dear friend Doctor John Henry Holliday, but I usually just call him Doc.”

Waverly gulped.

“And my name is Nicole. Nicole Haught.”

Both Waverly and Wynonna stared down at her outstretched hand.

Wynonna leant closely into Waverly’s side and whispered so quietly that she had to strain to hear the words.

“I think you mean, _when_ the hell are we.”

==========

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to my trusty Beta @Earperfamily.  
> Come back next week for chapter three!  
> Again, feel free to leave a comment or kudos, or come chat to me on twitter @Artemis_1707.


	3. Time travel 101, baby girl

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who has been reading, commenting and leaving kudos! It really does mean a lot to see that people are enjoying what I've written! 
> 
> Hope you enjoy chapter three!

Waverly felt like she was meeting a celebrity. She had spent a month of her life researching everything about this woman, following her interests and adventures. But how could she be here now?

Unless… the explosion from the drive had triggered some kind of joint time jump?

Waverly suddenly realised that Nicole was waiting for them to say something. She tried to speak but all that came out was a small squeak. Blushing, she cleared her throat and tried again.

“I’m Waverly, and this is my sister Wynonna.”

She tentatively reached out her fingers and shook Nicole’s hand. It took all her strength not to blurt out the millions of questions which were racing around her brain.

“And do you ladies have a last name?”

Waverly looked at Wynonna, she wasn’t sure what the whole protocol was for giving out real names. A second passed before they both spoke at the same time, with Waverly deciding to just stick with the truth.

“Ear-“

“Edison.”

Waverly glared at Wynonna, unable to comprehend her sister’s stupidity.

She looked back at Nicole and winced as she cocked her head to the side like a confused puppy.

“Edison? Any relation to Miss Winnipeg Edison?”

The girls shook their heads.

“Obviously a popular name! Right, you two must be hungry, Doc and I will go and put together some breakfast and we can talk some more, find out what you remember about last night. You can tell us all about America! We’ll wait for you in the drawing room, it’s down the stairs and on the left.” Nicole flashed them another welcoming smile and turned to leave, her jacket billowing behind her as she retreated from the room.

As soon as the door swung closed Waverly slapped Wynonna’s arm.

“Wynonna! Why did you say our last name was Edison?”

“Ow jeez what’s the big deal? We’re not meant to use real names; it could affect the future. Time travel 101, baby girl.”

“Seriously? Do you actually ever listen to things I tell you? Edison is the last name of Nicole’s… person. Guess we just found out she’s called Winnipeg.”

Wynonna shrugged, “It’s not like it matters, we’re leaving. Now. I’d rather be naked than wear this dress for another minute.”

Waverly couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed that they were leaving so soon. She’d hardly been able to speak two words to Nicole. Whilst working on the diary she’d often imagined what she would say to her if they could spend a few hours just talking in front of a fire with a cup of tea. At the time it had just been a fun fantasy. For a second it could’ve been her reality.

Wynonna roughly pushed the stiff material of her sleeve up her arm. Waverly watched her face fall. She followed her gaze down to Wynonna’s device which was still attached to her wrist, to say it was broken would be an understatement. Everything other than the strap was completely charred. Wynonna flipped open what was left of the face and yelled in surprise when it began to spark and pop. She hurriedly fiddled with the strap and flung it across the room, rubbing her wrist.

“Well that sucks – but I think I remember how two people can use one device to jump, pass me yours Waves.”

Waverly had a sinking feeling in her stomach, almost as if she already knew what she would find when she pushed back her sleeve. When she did, she heard Wynonna swear under her breath. Waverly’s was in an even worse state than Wynonna’s had been.

Wynonna was chewing the inside of her cheek as she thought.

“Eureka!” She shouted enthusiastically before grimacing, “God, remind me to never say that again.”

“Wynonna.”

“Yes, sorry, you still have the backpack right? We’ve got those two spare devices in there.”

Waverly felt a brief wave of relief before the panic came crashing back down. Where was the bag? She had no memory of seeing it when she had scanned the room earlier. Dropping to her hands and knees, she searched under the bed to see if it had somehow ended up down there. Nothing.

She stood up from the floor, brushed off her dress and turned to face Wynonna.

“Nicole probably has it?” Waverly had never been less confident in her own optimism.

“Well we better hope so. Because if she doesn’t have it, then I’m willing to bet my left tit that that shithead Bobo has it.”

Waverly had almost completely forgotten about Bobo.

“You think he jumped here too?” She asked, surprised. Wynonna walked over to the window and peered out into the garden.

“We were all stood this close to each other,” She lifted her thumb and forefinger so that they were almost touching, “I reckon whatever happened to us, happened to him too.”

“You really think he has our bag? What if he’s already found the devices and gone back to the future?”

“Well then I hope you like that dress Waverly because you’re gonna be wearing it a whole lot more.”

==========

Waverly shuffled uncomfortably in her chair as she and Wynonna settled at the table opposite Doc. There was a simple breakfast of toast laid out in front of them, with various spreads she didn’t recognise; it’s not like they came in branded packaging from the store. Nicole walked into the room holding a teapot and Waverly noted that she had changed her clothes.

She wore a white, collarless linen shirt underneath a light grey waistcoat which perfectly followed the contours of her body. She had also swapped her skirt for a pair of black, high-waisted, fitted trousers. Waverly accidently gasped at the sight of her, neither the painting nor the photograph had done her justice.

Waverly saw Nicole grimace slightly and realised she’d misinterpreted her reaction. Before she had a chance to explain herself, Nicole started to speak.

“Now, I know this may seem a little unconventional,“ she gestured to her clothing, “but –“

She was interrupted by Doc, “A little unconventional is a bit of an understatement don’t you think Nicole? Try unheard of in the history of women’s fashion.”

“Actually, there’s evidence that the Amazons often wore trousers due to their practicality, especially during the winter months.”

“Oh, the Amazons?”

“Yes, the Amazons.”

Waverly moved her head between the two of them as if she were watching a tennis match.

“You mean the mythological race of women who didn’t actually exist?”

“You’re just jealous because I look better in them then you do.”

There was silence as Nicole and Doc stared at each other, expressionless. Waverly shifted in her seat, unsure as to whether their interaction was serious or playful. Suddenly, laughter filled the air as their two hosts patted each other on the back. Waverly chuckled nervously in response as the tension dissipated.

Wynonna was the first to speak, shrugging as she picked up a slice of toast from the table and dropped it onto her plate.

“Women wear trousers all the time where we’re from.”

Waverly kicked Wynonna in the shin under the table and spoke before her sister could complain.

“What she means is, we hope that in the future, women will be allowed to wear trousers all the time.” She chuckled again, praying they couldn’t see right through her.

“See Doc, women _want_ to wear trousers, but only few are brave enough to pull it off.” Nicole looked at Waverly and wiggled her eyebrows. Waverly felt her mouth go dry. She quickly reached over to the teapot and poured some into her cup.

“You only wear them in the house, it doesn’t count.”

As Waverly lifted the cup to her lips and took a sip, Doc spoke again.

“So, you ladies are here from America?”

Wynonna made a retching sound.

“We’re from Cana-“

Waverly forced herself to quickly swallow the tea even though it burned her throat.

“Yes! Yes, we’re from America! Came over on the boat!”

Waverly delivered another swift kick to Wynonna’s shin.

“Wow,” Doc responded, “We don’t get a lot of Americans visiting us here in Churchley! When are you heading back?”

Nicole placed her elbows onto the table and leaned forwards, resting her chin on interlaced fingers. She looked as though she was listening to the most interesting conversation in the world, wanting to absorb every single detail.

“Well here’s the thing,” Waverly began nervously, avoiding eye contact. “We seem to have misplaced one of our bags which has some… important documentation and uhm… medications in it. And we can’t go home until we find it.”

“Well if it’s medications you need, both Nicole and I have extensive knowledge of medicine and chemistry, so if there’s anything we can mix up for you?”

“Oh no, I don’t think that will be necessary.”

“Well wait up a second Waves,” Wynonna leant her chin on her fist, “What kind of things are we talking?”

Doc opened his mouth to speak but Waverly interjected, “She’s joking! Honestly we’re fine!”

She kicked Wynonna again. Wynonna picked up her piece of toast and leaned in towards Waverly’s ear, using it to cover her mouth from view.

“If you kick me again, I am only going to make this worse for you.”

As she pulled away from Waverly’s ear she took a bite out of the toast. Waverly decided to try and find out what the other two knew about the previous night.

“So… do either of you two know what happened last night?” She took another sip of her tea to avoid staring at Nicole as she replied.

“Well at about midnight, I think it was?” She looked at Doc who nodded in confirmation, “there was a knock at the front door and a note saying that there were some people in need down by the stream. We were expecting beggars or something. We ran outside and you were both just lying there with only the dresses you’re in now on you. Didn’t see any bags. So, we carried you in and checked you over to make sure there was no serious damage, and here you are. Do you remember anything from before we got there?”

Despite her best efforts, Waverly realised that she was staring. She just couldn’t seem to wrap her head around the fact that she was here in the flesh.

“Well, we were uhm walking with our uh bag, right Waverly? And some man comes up behind us and tries to mug us at gunpoint. And then uhm the rest is a blank.”

Nicole’s face darkened as she listened to Wynonna’s story, Waverly saw her fist clench over the cloth on the table.

“Did you get a good look at the scoundrel who did it? Would you recognise him if you saw him again?”

Wynonna smiled, “Absolutely.”

“Doc, how about you and Wynonna walk into the village and chat to some of the locals, see if they’ve noticed anyone matching her description of this man.”

Doc smiled kindly at Wynonna as they both stood from the table.

“Let me get my coat and hat, and I shall be waiting for you by the front door Miss Edison.” Doc bowed his head slightly at Wynonna and left the room as Nicole started to clean up the table.

“Are you coming Waves?”

Waverly’s eyes flitted over to Nicole. This would be the perfect opportunity to talk to her one on one.

“No, I think I’ll stay, help clean up.”

Wynonna rolled her eyes but smiled. She planted a kiss on Waverly’s forehead before leaving the room. Waverly stood up and began to collect the teacups from around the table.

“You know you don’t have to help, you’re our guests.”

“I like to make myself useful,” Waverly replied, smiling.

Nicole returned her smile as she finished tidying the table, and then gestured to the door.

“Care to join me in the library? I find it’s more comfortable in there for when I want to entertain.”

Waverly’s heart stuttered; Nicole wanted to ‘entertain’ her. And of course she had her own library. Waverly nodded and followed her from the room and into another. She felt her jaw drop as she surveyed the room around her.

Books. Books of all shapes, sizes and colours covered every inch of wall that wasn’t already taken by a window. Waverly had thought that she had an extensive collection, but it was nothing compared to this. At the front of the room, there was a beautiful couch in front of a set of bay windows, which overlooked an immaculate garden. Just being in such a space made Waverly feel instantly calmer.

“Wow,” was all she could say.

“You like books too then?” Nicole smirked as she ran her fingers lovingly over some of the spines. She walked over to the couch and sat on one side. She patted the space next to her, inviting Waverly to join her. She walked over to the couch, perhaps a little too eagerly, and arranged her dress so she could sit comfortably.

“I would do nothing but read if I could!” Waverly exclaimed.

Nicole laughed and the sound made Waverly’s heart skip a beat.

“Whilst you’re here feel free to read whatever you like. What’s mine is yours. So, Waverly, are you sure you are of no relation to Winnipeg Edison? Perhaps you are distant cousins.”

Waverly realised this was her opportunity to try and find out a few more details about this Winnipeg, the woman who was so important in Nicole’s life.

“As far as I know we’re not related! Is she a… good friend of yours?” Waverly asked, trying not to sound too suggestive.

“Oh, I see her from time to time,” Nicole said with a vague smile.

Waverly decided that it probably wasn’t a good idea to pry further on the subject. She had a hard time remembering that whilst she knew all about Nicole, Nicole didn’t know the first thing about her. The chances that she would divulge such personal information would be extremely slim. As she thought, Nicole spoke again.

“So tell me Waverly, what is it you like to read?”

=========

Waverly heard the front door close and glanced over to the grandfather clock in the corner of the library. She did a double take. 3pm??? She and Nicole had been talking for four hours straight and apparently the thought of food hadn’t occurred to either of them. The conversation had been so effortless that topics had flowed seamlessly into each other, to the extent that Waverly hadn’t even realised how much time had passed. Nicole had told her all about her travels: where she’d been and who she’d studied with. In return, Waverly told her all about her love for languages and history. The amazing thing was, that Nicole seemed just as interested in what she had to say, than Waverly was in her.

It had been instantly clear that Nicole was an incredibly intelligent woman, she could talk in just as much detail about medicine as she could about Greek mythology, and astronomy, and nature, and business, the list was endless. But Waverly realised that not once had she felt that Nicole had been condescending, or dumbing things down to explain to her, they had had a mutual respect and an appreciation for each other’s knowledge. She couldn’t remember the last time she had been able to talk to someone so freely and openly about herself.

Not to mention that Nicole’s accent was just downright dreamy.

She heard Wynonna call out her name from the corridor.

“We’re in the library Wynonna!” She called, her voice sounding slightly rough after the hours of chatting. She looked over to the door as Wynonna and Doc found them. Doc was laughing at something that Wynonna had said. Waverly hoped it hadn’t been something inappropriate.

“Any luck finding the bastard?” Nicole said casually.

“Not yet,” Doc replied as he removed his top hat, “But we bumped into Miss Gardner at the Tailor’s and she said she would look out for anything suspicious.”

Wynonna smirked, “I think her exact words were ‘I’d do anything for Miss Haught’.”

Waverly thought she saw Nicole’s eyes flit to look at her, but she couldn’t be sure.

“Why were you at the Tailor’s? Didn’t you get some new trousers last week Doc?”

Doc chuckled, “Ohh it appears that you have started a revolution.”

Nicole and Waverly shared a look of confusion as Wynonna left the room and returned with a shallow, rectangular box. She passed it to Doc, removed the lid and lifted out a pair of black trousers.

Waverly’s eyes widened as she realised what Wynonna had done. Nicole’s laughter made her jump. She looked over to her and couldn’t help but smile when she saw her. She was holding her chest as she laughed uncontrollably, wiping at a few stray tears as they fell onto her cheeks. She ran a hand through her hair as it fell around her face.

“They just let you buy those?” Waverly asked, surprised.

“Of course not!” Doc smiled, “I told them they were for me!”

All four of them started laughing together, to the point where none of them could breathe. Waverly couldn’t remember the last time she had laughed like this, especially with people she hardly knew. But the reality of their situation soon fought its way back into her thoughts.

“So, we just have to wait around and hope that someone sees him somewhere?” She asked the room nervously.

“If you’ve got a better plan baby girl then I’m all ears.”

“I guess we should find somewhere in the village to stay?” Waverly chewed her lip as she thought about how exactly they would do that, seeing as neither of them had any money.

“Don’t be ridiculous! You can both stay here as long as you need to! God knows we’d both enjoy the company.” Nicole grinned and reached her hand over to Waverly, placing it onto her arm. She felt a sharp shock of electricity race over her skin and she automatically flinched. Nicole’s hand fell away instantly, and her smile faltered for only a second before she looked back over to Wynonna and Doc.

“Yes of course, really, anything we can do to help.” Doc smiled at Wynonna and Waverly thought she saw something a little more than politeness. Of course Wynonna had already charmed the only man in the house.

“How about we celebrate tonight? Where do you two usually go for a drink?” Wynonna asked.

Nicole and Doc shared a look with each other. Nicole raised an eyebrow at him and he shrugged.

“I think we know just the place.” Nicole grinned.

=========

Waverly had to admit, she was surprised.

After dinner, Doc had gone ahead whilst Nicole cleared the plates and changed back into her black dress. Waverly and Wynonna had retreated back to their rooms to freshen up. Wynonna had tried to convince Waverly to let her wear her new trousers, but she refused to back down. They didn’t need to draw attention to themselves. Wynonna had just narrowed her eyes and finished rebuttoning her dress.

“Also, I was meaning to ask earlier, why exactly can’t we be Canadian?” She asked, sticking her head back through the door.

“Because there’s no rail system in place yet between America and Canada, which would mean for us to get from Canada to here, we would’ve had to either go on a seriously long and dangerous trek to get down to the US, or we would’ve had to get a boat like all the way around the bottom of South America and then back up again. I just thought it would be easier to say we were American.”

Wynonna pursed her lips, “I guess that does make sense. How do you know shit like that?”

“It’s called reading Wynonna, you should try it some time.” She jabbed playfully at her sister.

“Yeah yeah,” She conceded.

After the three of them were ready, they had walked to the outskirts of the village towards a large building which resembled some kind of abandoned warehouse. They reached a door and Nicole knocked twice on the outside.

A small hatch slid open, and Waverly could see that there was a man looking through from the other side. His face looked grubby, and his voice was rough.

“Ahh Miss Haught, Doc said you would be joining him this evening.” His eyes fell over Waverly and Wynonna and he looked them up and down. “They guests of yours are they?” he jerked his chin at them.

“Yes, they’re visiting from America for a while, thought I’d show them what you English boys get up to.”

“Very well.” He huffed and slid the hatch closed again.

Waverly heard a bolt shifting and the door in front of them swung open.

The smell of smoke and alcohol hit Waverly in the face as she peered inside. She followed Nicole through the frame and took in her surroundings. The room was large and had a bar along one side, with a few tables and chairs in front. But what caught her eye was the makeshift boxing ring in the centre of the room. There was a crowd of men pushing and shoving around the outside of it, shouting loudly at the two men fighting inside of it.

She had been expecting a ye olde English inn, not some kind of secret underground fight club. She looked over at Wynonna who looked like a kid in a toy shop.

“What is this place?” She asked, almost dreamily.

“This,” Nicole spread her arms as she turned to face them, “is how we like to blow off steam.”

“Awesome.” Wynonna whispered, her eyes scanning the room. They landed on the bar.

“Go, help yourself. Drinks are on Doc – he owns this place.”

Wynonna’s mouth fell open and she quickly ran off to the bar in case Nicole changed her mind.

“You shouldn’t have told her that, there’ll be nothing left for anyone else,” Waverly laughed.

“This probably wasn’t what you were expecting huh?” Nicole looked slightly sheepish.

Waverly had known Nicole liked boxing, but she hadn’t realised she’d been so… involved with it.

“I guess I just didn’t imagine you hanging out in a place like this.”

They were walking slowly towards an empty table at the back of the room. Nicole pulled out a chair for Waverly and then walked over to the other side and sat down. A woman swiftly placed two glasses down onto their table.

“Thank you, Eliza.” Nicole flashed her dimples at the server who giggled as she walked away.

Waverly studied Nicole as she spoke.

“People seem to like you around here.”

Nicole stopped watching Eliza walking back to the bar and stared into Waverly’s eyes. She cocked her head to the side.

“Is that a question or a statement?”

“You tell me.” Waverly picked up her glass and sipped, wincing slightly as the alcohol burned her throat.

“I’d say people round here tolerate me. Some like me more than others.” Her eyes flitted back to the waitress. For some reason Waverly felt herself blushing. “But I imagine they only do that because most of them think I’m married to Doc.” Nicole laughed, as if that was the most ridiculous thing to think.

Waverly remembered that she wasn’t meant to know that they weren’t married. She tried to act surprised.

“You’re not?”

Nicole laughed again and adjusted herself so one of her legs was crossed over the other.

“God no. He’s more like the brother I never had. He accepts me for who I am.” Nicole took a long swig from her glass and placed it back onto the table.

Before Waverly could press further, she heard her name being called from across the room. She looked towards the sound and saw Wynonna frantically waving and pointing towards the ring. She had an arm draped around a random guy and a half empty bottle of what Waverly assumed was scotch in her other hand.

Waverly put her face in her hands as Nicole turned to see what was happening. When she turned back she looked somewhat impressed.

“I’m not sure I’ve ever met a woman who can drink like that,” she pointed with her thumb over her shoulder.

“That’s because you’ve never met Wynonna.” Waverly drained her glass in one go. She heard a bell ringing and looked over to where the boxing was taking place. A new fighter was climbing through the ropes and everyone around the ring started to cheer. Waverly noticed he had a large mustache.

“Is that Doc??” She gasped.

Nicole stood from her seat at the table and signaled for Waverly to follow.

“It sure is,” she grinned.

Waverly made her way over to the ring, trying to avoid the leering looks some of the men were giving her. As they approached the ring, Doc and his opponent begun to circle each other. Doc had stripped out of his shirt and jacket and was just wearing a white vest tucked into his black trousers, with suspenders hanging loose around his waist. He was surprisingly muscular for a studious doctor.

His opponent threw a punch but Doc dodged it easily. Waverly turned to Nicole to say something but stopped herself. Nicole was completely enthralled in the match, her eyes focused and following every move in the ring. When Nicole suddenly flinched and made an ‘ooo’ sound, Waverly quickly looked back at the fighting and saw that Doc was on the ground. The other man was pumping his fists into the air and roaring at the crowd.

Doc rose from the floor slowly and wiped his mouth. The man in the middle, who Waverly assumed was some kind of referee, patted both men on the shoulder and then signaled for them to fight again. This time Waverly watched them, trying to see the appeal. She found herself getting into it a little bit, cheering when Doc’s punches landed.

“I haven’t seen you here before.” Hot breath fell onto Waverly’s ear and she spun around. A tall, slim man with a dirty shirt hanging untucked from his trousers stood in front of her, slightly closer than she considered comfortable.

She gave him a tight-lipped smile and tried to turn back to the ring, but he placed a large hand on her waist. Unfortunately, Nicole was unaware of the situation, still engrossed in the match.

“Hey, not so fast,” he slurred. There was a stain on his shirt which looked suspiciously like blood.

“I’m sorry I’m not interested.” Waverly tried to turn a little more forcefully but felt him grab her arm. His fingernails dug painfully into her bicep.

“Get off m-“ Before she could finish, the grip on her arm had disappeared and the man was on the ground, his nose bleeding. Waverly looked around, slightly bewildered as to what had happened, when she saw that Nicole was towering over him beside her. She looked furious.

“I think she said she wasn’t interested.” Nicole’s voice sounded like a growl.

The man picked himself up off the floor and stood in front of Nicole. Waverly was aware that a loose circle had formed around them.

“Don’t touch me you fucking Jack.” Spittle flew from his mouth. Suddenly the atmosphere in the room seemed to shift. Waverly didn’t know what a Jack was, but apparently it was bad.

The man thrust a hand into his pocket and pulled out a knife, waving it in Nicole’s face. Waverly yelled in surprise and grabbed Nicole’s arm, but she had hardly flinched. All of a sudden, a body slammed into the side of the man and the knife flew into the air. The two men tumbled onto the ground, with the newcomer landing on top, catching the knife and pressing it into the other’s throat. When he lifted his head to speak, she saw that it was Doc.

“Fun’s over. Everyone out!” A few people grumbled but nobody moved.

“NOW!” He shouted.

The crowd began to move slowly towards the door, muttering to each other whilst picking up their coats and hats from around the bar. Doc stood up from the floor and hauled the man up after him.

“I’ll be back in a second,” He called as he began to drag the other man over to the entrance, knife still in his other hand. Waverly released a shaky breath. She felt another hand on her arm and flinched, but instantly relaxed when she saw that it was just Wynonna. She pulled her into a hug and let out a sigh.

“Are you okay baby girl?” Her words were only slightly slurred, Waverly was impressed.

“Yeah, I’m fine, I was just surprised I guess.” she shrugged.

“He won’t be coming back here again.” Doc had returned, thankfully without the man.

“Guess that means we get the bar to ourselves now!” Wynonna yelled before grabbing Doc and pulling him off towards the alcohol.

Waverly turned to Nicole, still in shock that she had punched him. Her cheeks were blushed, and she was rubbing her knuckles.

Thank you was all she could think to say.

“Women shouldn’t have to deal with scum like that.” Nicole had an angry glint in her eyes, and Waverly wondered how many times Nicole had been in a situation like that.

“What’s a Jack by the way?” Waverly immediately regretted the question. Nicole’s jaw clenched and she avoided looking at her.

“It doesn’t matter,” she replied and forced a smile. “Fancy another drink?”

=========

To say the group had had another drink, would be putting it lightly. It was more like 7. It had gotten to the point where Waverly was stood at the edge of the ring, about to watch Wynonna take on Nicole in a boxing match, with Doc as the ref. Wynonna had gotten the idea when she had overheard Nicole tell Waverly that she was unbeaten in the ring. Admittedly she had only fought against Doc, but she had assured her it still counted.

The more Waverly drank, the more she felt the need to touch everyone around her. Wynonna had always categorised her as the ‘huggy’ drunk, and tonight was no different. She had caught herself draping her arms around Doc, Wynonna and Nicole on more than one occasion, especially Nicole. There was something about her that just drew her in, like a moth to a flame. Waverly giggled to herself as she thought about how Nicole’s hair was red like a flame.

“Something funny baby girl?” Wynonna called from across the ring, swaying slightly as she stood.

“Nicole’s hair is like fire!” Waverly blurted out, and then laughed again, steadying herself against the rope.

“Okay, ladies.” Doc had replaced his top hat onto his head in an attempt to appear more official. “I want a fair fight. No funny business. I’m looking at you Wynonna.” He grinned at her and tipped his hat.

Somehow in Waverly’s drunken state, she remembered that Nicole was quite good at boxing. She leaned forwards and pulled the back of Nicole’s skirt.

“Hey, Nicole. Go easy on her will you? She talks big but she can sometimes get herself into trouble.” Waverly hiccuped. Her eyes crossed trying to focus on Nicole’s face.

“Less chatting more fighting!” Wynonna whined.

“Anything for you, Waves.” Nicole slurred. Waverly felt warm at the sound of Nicole using her nickname.

Before Nicole had fully turned back around to face Wynonna, her face jerked to the side and a crack echoed throughout the room. Nicole’s hand flew to her cheek and a look of shock crossed her face.

“You _slapped_ me?”

Wynonna shrugged, “You were taking too long Haught stuff”

Nicole swayed on the spot as she pointed a finger at Wynonna, “Do you even know the rules of boxing?”

“Why don’t we find out?” Wynonna challenged.

Nicole swung back around to face Waverly. “Permission to not go easy on her?”

Waverly giggled.

Wynonna was on the ground in less than 30 seconds.

==========

As they stumbled back through the door to Nicole’s house, Doc picked up a folded piece of paper from their doorstep. With some difficulty, he read aloud.

“Dear Dr Holliday, I thought you would be interested to know that a man matching the description your friend gave us this morning was seen in the village this evening entering the abandoned house by the old Johnson farm. I hope this helps. Mr Smith.”

“Not that I don’t want to give that fucker a piece of my mind, but I think it can wait ‘til tomorrow.” Wynonna said as she grabbed another bottle from the side and pulled out the stopper. “Drink anyone?”

=========

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to my trusty Beta @Earperfamily. 
> 
> Chapter four will be posted next Tuesday! 
> 
> As always, feel free to leave a comment or kudos, or come chat to me on twitter @Artemis_1707. I have posted some art on my twitter of 1800s Nicole and Waverly if anyone wants to see what I see in my head when I write them :))


	4. It's not rocket science

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again thank you to everyone leaving comments and kudos, it really means a lot to hear from you all! 
> 
> Thanks to my Beta @Earperfamily. 
> 
> Feel free to come and chat to me on twitter @Artemis_1707.
> 
> Next week you will be getting chapters 5 AND 6... until then, enjoy chapter 4!

The next morning, Waverly promised herself that she would never, ever drink again. Whatever was in Victorian alcohol, it made her feel a thousand times worse than she usually would after a night out. She could hear her heart thumping painfully loud in her head and she had to squint against the sunlight flooding her room.

She lay still for a moment, thinking back to the events of the previous night and groaning at the memories of her being all over Nicole throughout the evening. It had felt like a great idea at the time, but now it just seemed embarrassing.

She slowly untangled herself from the sheets and noted that she was wearing a white nightgown. She didn’t have the brain capacity right now to question where that had come from. As she sat upright, her stomach heaved, and it took everything she had not to gag.

Deciding that water was the only thing that could save her, she slowly stood up from the bed and closed her eyes as her head spun. She inched her way out into Wynonna’s room next door to see if she needed anything, but her bed was empty.

She continued slowly down the stairs, using the handrail for support. Any sudden movements and she would throw up right there in the corridor, which was not quite the impression she wanted to make. She made her way to the drawing room where they’d eaten the day before but halted halfway through opening the door.

Nicole was sat at the table in a white vest and a pair of charcoal grey trousers. Her hair was pulled back into a messy bun, but a few escaped strands were hanging around her face, catching the morning sun. Her head was resting on one of her hands as the other one wrote. Unlike Waverly, she showed no signs of a hangover. She blushed when she caught her eyes drifting along her muscular arms and admiring how the vest hugged her figure in all the right places.

“Pull yourself together, Earp” she muttered to herself.

Waverly hovered in the doorway, unable to decide whether she should stay or go; she didn’t want to interrupt her. She was writing frantically into a small book on the table and her lips were moving softly as if she were whispering to someone.

As Waverly shifted her weight to try and leave un-noticed, one of the floorboards under her feet creaked loudly. Nicole looked up and spotted her as she tried to quickly jump back out of the room.

“Waverly?”

Waverly popped her head back through the door.

“I’m sorry, ignore me, you’re busy, I can come back later!” She tried to leave again but Nicole demanded she stay.

“Don’t be silly, I was just finishing up anyway.” Nicole left the book open, Waverly assumed so the ink could dry, but moved it from in front of her. For a moment, Waverly thought it was _the_ diary, but that one had been red, and from what she could see this one had a blue cover.

Waverly walked further into the room and took up the chair opposite her. If Nicole had any qualms about Waverly’s over-familiar behaviour from the night before, then she didn’t let on.

“Diary?” she asked, gesturing at the book.

Nicole smiled, “Yes, Doc used to tell me it’s a waste of time because no-one will ever read them, but I’m not doing it for anyone else. They’re just for me.”

Waverly poured herself a glass of water from the jug on the table and drained it in one go.

“Who knows, maybe they’ll be discovered one day in the distant future and you’ll be famous.”

Nicole chuckled, smoothing her hand over the front cover.

“Well I appreciate the optimism. But I’m not sure what I have to say is _that_ special.”

“I think you’d be surprised.” _Shit_. As far as Nicole knew, Waverly had no idea what she wrote in her diaries.

Nicole stared at her, brow slightly furrowed in concentration as if she was trying to read Waverly’s mind. She’d need to actually think before she spoke if she was going to avoid confused questions from Nicole. Waverly cleared her throat and refilled her water.

“Do you know where Wynonna is? She wasn’t in her bedroom.”

Nicole grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl and began to cut it into segments, Waverly’s comment about the diary apparently forgotten.

“She’s on the sofa in the library, I think she fell unconscious before she could make it up the stairs.” A smile played on her lips as she popped a piece into her mouth.

Waverly groaned in embarrassment.

“I am so sorry about her, she usually doesn’t get that bad!”

Nicole raised a skeptical eyebrow.

“Oh, who am I kidding that was an average Tuesday night.” They both laughed together.

“Honestly it’s fine! I had a surprisingly great time. Apparently I’ve got a new sparring partner, now _that_ was an unexpected bonus.”

Waverly gasped as the memory of Wynonna slapping Nicole in the face came flooding back.

“Ohhh noo, I can’t believe she slapped you! I’m so sorr-“

“Waverly if you apologise one more time then I’m going to ban you from my library!” Nicole grinned, “and anyway, I think I got my revenge, don’t you? It seems American women are a lot less stuffy than us English folk, never met a lady who was so ready for a fight before. Perhaps travelling to America would be worth the effort after all.”

She reached over and placed a hand over Waverly’s. The warm feeling that spread through her in that moment confused her. What was it with the weird sensations every time Nicole touched her? She moved her hand out from underneath Nicole’s and busied herself with a slice of toast.

Nicole opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by Wynonna shuffling into the room, Waverly looked over her shoulder to assess the damage. She was wearing her new trousers with one leg rolled up on her calf, and a large shirt which Waverly assumed was Doc’s. There was a faint bruise developing on her jaw from where Nicole had delivered the first and last punch of their fight. She squinted as she looked around the room, rubbing her eyes.

“Is there something to drink around here?”

Waverly’s stomach flipped at the thought of alcohol.

“You can’t seriously be thinking about drinking right now Wynonna?” She asked, her face paling.

“Hair of the dog!” Wynonna and Nicole said simultaneously.

Wynonna grinned and put her hand on Nicole’s shoulder.

“See Waverly, Haught gets it.”

Nicole turned and pointed to a cabinet in the corner of the room. Wynonna returned to the table and Waverly’s stomach churned as she watched the brown liquid slosh around inside the bottle.

“So, Waverly, do you want to tell me why you felt the need to get a book from the library this morning at like 4am?” Wynonna took a swig.

Waverly frowned. She had no memory of getting a book.

“I… didn’t?”

“Yeah, you did. We basically had a full-blown conversation. I asked what you were doing, you told me I was dreaming. You grabbed a book and then you left.”

Waverly searched her mind for even a hint of evidence that that had happened.

“Seriously Wynonna I don’t have any memory of doing that. I wouldn’t just go through Nicole’s stuff in the middle of the night.” She retaliated, a hint of red creeping onto her cheeks.

“Why are you getting so defensive about it?” Wynonna narrowed her eyes at her.

“Not that it would be a problem if you did take it Waverly, but Wynonna you said that she told you that you were dreaming?” Nicole asked as she bit into her final piece of apple.

“Uh-huh.”

“If Waverly says she didn’t do it then… maybe you _were_ dreaming?”

“Hmmm.”

Nicole stood from the table and brushed off her trousers.

“I’m going to go for a walk, run some errands. Why don’t you two make a plan of action for tonight. I do believe there’s a Mr Del Ray who has something that belongs to you.”

=========

“So, baby girl, you wanna talk to me about Nicole?” The sisters were sat on Waverly’s bed as she braided her hair.

“What about her?” Waverly asked suspiciously.

“Well I’m not blind Waves, last night you were all over her, you were practically drooling.” Wynonna smirked as she lay back onto the bed. Waverly opened her mouth in offence.

“I was not!!”

“Hey, I’m just looking out for you! We’re not staying here forever. I don’t want you to get your heart broken.”

Waverly looked at her reflection in the mirror as her fingers weaved strands of hair together behind her head. She scoffed.

“What about you and Doc huh?” She retaliated.

“Stop trying to change the subject! I see the way you look at her, all gooey and shit.”

Waverly couldn’t help but raise her voice in annoyance.

“Fine! Maybe I have a teeny tiny little celebrity crush! But that’s it! It’s not like I’m doing anything about it! Plus, Nicole has Winnipeg. Believe me, I’ve read aaaallll about it.”

Wynonna raised her hands defensively.

“I just want you to remember that we’ve got to do everything we can not to change the past. We wouldn’t want to go back to an alternate reality.”

Waverly reached the end of her hair and secured it with a band. She fell back next to Wynonna and lay on her side so that she was facing her.

“So you _have_ seen Back to the Future!”

“Well duh! They basically use it as an instructional video back at BBD, although it didn’t quite prepare me for all this weird Victorian shit. I miss flushing toilets, and showers, running water in general, and my leather jacket, oh and-“

“Okay okay I get it! But you’re going to have to put up with it for a little while longer. Now quit whining, we need to come up with a plan by the time Nicole gets back.”

“Kiss ass,” Wynonna grumbled.

Waverly stuck out her tongue in response.

=========

“Let’s go over the plan one more time.”

Nicole, Doc, Waverly and Wynonna were crouched behind a bush at the edge of the Johnson property, probably looking like the most bizarre gang in history. Wynonna had almost exploded with excitement when Nicole had tentatively suggested that they all wear men’s clothes to try and make themselves less conspicuous, not to mention it would be easier for them to move around if they weren’t in dresses. She hadn’t expected them to agree to it, any respectable Victorian woman would’ve found the idea utterly scandalous.

But Wynonna had ripped off her dress and pulled on her trousers quicker than Waverly could say ‘tacos are tasty’. Nicole had left Waverly a little pile of clothes outside her door, consisting of a pair of her own trousers, a shirt and a jacket. The only problem was that clothes which fitted Nicole just right, dwarfed Waverly. She had had to roll everything back at least three times and she looked ridiculous.

Annoyingly, Wynonna and Nicole both looked amazing, like they could star in the all-female version of Peaky Blinders. Doc had just shaken his head and chuckled when the three of them had come down the stairs. He really was surprisingly easy-going about the whole thing. Waverly knew that men like him, so open and accepting, were a rarity at the best of times, let alone in Victorian England.

“Jeez Haught, and I thought you were the clever one.” Wynonna muttered.

“Excuse me for wanting to make sure we all know what’s going on, also what kind of word is ‘jeez’ anyway? I’ve never heard something so ridiculous,” Nicole hissed.

Wynonna shot her an annoyed look. “Fine. We’re going to pair off and look for the bag. Hopefully, nobody’s home, but if they are, then that’s what these are for.” She waved her pistol in front of her. “Me and Waverly will go to the first floor, Haught, Doc, you stick to the ground floor, whoever’s done first can scout the top floor. It’s not rocket science.”

Doc looked confused. “What’s rocket science?”

“Nothing!” Waverly interjected. She subtly pinched Wynonna’s arm.

“Don’t you think I should go with Waverly?” Nicole whispered. Waverly tried to ignore the little flutter in her stomach at Nicole’s suggestion.

Wynonna narrowed her eyes at her.

“And why’s that?”

“Well neither myself nor Doc know what this bag looks like, we wouldn’t know what we’re looking for. It would make much more sense if one of us each went with one of you.”

A beat passed before Wynonna gave in.

“Ugh okay, annoyingly that makes more sense.”

Nicole smiled and looked over to Waverly. Her breath caught in her throat.

“If that’s okay with you of course?”

She wasn’t about to turn down more alone time.

“I think I’ll survive.” Waverly teased.

Wynonna coughed and not-so-subtly muttered ‘get a room’.

“Huh?” Nicole looked innocently back at Wynonna.

“Nothing!”

=========

The abandoned house was a lot larger than Waverly had been expecting. Her and Nicole had searched three rooms already and hadn’t found any trace of the bag. Creeping around the dark house put Waverly on edge, even though she knew Nicole could handle herself in a fight.

To make matters worse, Nicole had seen this as the perfect opportunity to start asking Waverly a million personal questions. The answers to which required her to weave a complex web of lies, trying to avoid mentioning anything about the future. And she hated lying, she felt like she was betraying Nicole’s trust. A few times she had said something which had Nicole frowning, but she had managed to cover it up with what was quickly becoming her go-to explanation: ‘it’s an American thing’. She reminded herself that even if Nicole was suspicious, once they found the spare devices it would hardly matter; they’d never see each other again. For some reason that thought hurt more than it should have.

In return, Waverly had tried to ask about Nicole’s family and friends *cough* Winnipeg *cough*, but Nicole had been annoyingly vague and changed the subject. She only wanted to find out more about Winnipeg to get more information for her translation project. Or maybe she just wanted to hear Nicole talking about love, and pretend that it was Waverly who she was talking about.

Woah. Where had that thought come from? Waverly shook her head to try and force the idea out her head. It was just a little crush. She’d feel the same way if she met Beyonce or Kiera Knightley, right?

She closed the draw she had been looking through and huffed in annoyance.

“Everything alright Edison?”

It took a second for Waverly to remember that was her.

“Huh? Oh yeah, just really hoping we find the bag.”

Nicole walked over to Waverly and gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze.

“If worst comes to the worst, Doc and I will help you replace everything in there. Whatever documents you need, we’ll work it out.” Nicole smiled, her eyes glistening in the candlelight.

Was there no end to Nicole’s generosity? It was a shame that Waverly and Wynonna needed a little more than a few documents to make it home.

As she looked up at Nicole, stood so close to her in the dark room, she couldn’t help but glance at her lips.

BANG. BANG. BANG.

Waverly’s head whipped around as she heard three gunshots echo around the empty house.

“Wynonna!”

She raced out into the gloomy corridor, her path lit only by the moonlight. She could hear Nicole following behind her but didn’t turn around. Her sister was somewhere in the house, maybe shot, maybe dead already. Just like Daddy. Just like Willa. No. Waverly scolded herself for letting her mind go there. She couldn’t unravel right now. Not before she found Wynonna. She launched herself down the staircase and tripped over something at the bottom, landing hard on her hands as she tried to catch her fall.

She almost threw up when she squinted behind her and saw that she had fallen over a body, lying motionless face down on the ground. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she scrambled forwards into the small pool of blood, screaming Wynonna’s name. She grabbed the back of the jacket and pulled, but all the strength had left her body. Wynonna had left her alone. Again.

“Waverly?”

Waverly flew around at the sound of Wynonna’s voice from behind her. Wynonna and Doc were stood there, confused looks on their faces. Waverly leaped up from the floor and practically tackled her. She wrapped her arms around her neck so tightly that she heard Wynonna gasp. Waverly felt arms wrap around her, hands smoothing over her hair as she gently murmured into Waverly’s ear.

“Hey, hey, Waverly, it’s okay. I’m right here. I’m okay. We’re okay.” She pulled away and wiped a finger over Waverly’s cheek, catching a few tears as they fell.

Waverly took a deep breath to try and pull herself together, but her lip quivered and more tears spilled.

“I thought you were dead Wynonna. I thought you’d left me.”

“Shhh, shh Waves, I’m not going to leave you okay? Never.” She felt Wynonna’s lips in her hair. “But… you are getting blood on my new trousers.”

Waverly sniffed and pulled out of the hug, giving her sister a watery smile.

“Did he at least have the bag?” She asked hopefully.

“No. That’s not even Bobo. One of his douchey friends must have come along with him.”

“I suggest we all go up to the second floor, together this time, and do a quick search. If we haven’t found it in ten minutes, then we come back tomorrow. Plus, Waverly needs to clean up.” Nicole was still stood on the bottom step. She looked slightly awkward, as if she didn’t know whether she should give Waverly a hug or keep her distance. Waverly would’ve taken the hug in an instant.

The four of them made their way up two flights of stairs, Nicole leading the way and Doc bringing up the rear. Waverly kept her hand grasped in Wynonna’s. That moment, when she had seen the body on the ground, it was like something within her had snapped. Like every nightmare she’d had growing up had come back to haunt her all at the same time. Like the ground had cracked open and swallowed her whole.

Waverly scrunched her eyes together and then opened them. Now was not the time.

==========

The four of them had turned the room upside down, but there was no bag. Waverly still felt fragile, her sleeve was damp from catching stray tears as they continued their search. She could feel everyone’s eyes on her back as she made her way around the room. Nicole probably thought she was crazy.

As she slid the draw she was looking through closed, a floorboard outside the door creaked and all four of them froze in place.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t Wynonna and Waverly, I see you’ve made some… interesting new friends.”

Bobo had a pistol raised in front of him as he entered the room. His gaze fell onto Nicole and Waverly felt a sudden surge of protectiveness. Her eyes flashed to his wrist and she noted that he wasn’t wearing a device.

“It’s quite a predicament we find ourselves in, isn’t it?” He asked, over pronouncing the ‘t’.

“Hmm yeah it’s funny,” Wynonna said flatly.

Nicole was giving Bobo a murderous look, her eyes looked almost black.

“I think you have something that belongs to these ladies?” She growled.

Bobo’s head tilted towards Nicole, “And what would that be?” He asked. He almost sounded like he didn’t know what she was talking about.

“Don’t play dumb with us Booboo del shit,” Wynonna jeered, “Where’s our bag?”

Bobo narrowed his eyes and cocked his head, still holding his gun towards the group.

“And why, pray tell, would I have your bag?” He used his other hand to point to himself and then to Wynonna.

“Because we had something you wanted,” Waverly thought to herself.

Bobo’s head snapped towards her. _Crap_. Had she said that out loud? She felt so out of it that she didn’t even know what was in her head and what wasn’t.

There was a look of recognition in his stare.

“What did you say?” He inched closer to Waverly. Out of the corner of her eye she thought she saw Nicole’s hand reach slowly into her jacket.

“I…um…”

“Are you telling me that you have a way back?” Waverly became hyper aware of his gun pointing at her head.

“We… I… you…” Waverly couldn’t make herself form a sentence. Was Bobo playing with them? Or did he not have the bag either? Words were flying around her brain, unwilling to be tamed into coherence. The air seemed thick with confusion.

“TELL ME WHERE THEY ARE!” He demanded. When no-one answered, his expression resolved. “Fine.”

Bobo’s finger moved over the trigger and squeezed. Waverly heard a shot ring out and screwed her eyes closed, waiting for the pain to envelope her. She felt a rough hand push her shoulder and she fell to the ground, catching her head on something hard. Waverly heard a second shot and something that sounded like glass smashing, before she slipped into the darkness.

===========

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See you next week for chapters 5 and 6!


	5. You're one of the good guys

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I say this every week but thank you so much to everyone who is reading this fic, leaving kudos and/or comments! It makes my day when I read that someone has enjoyed what I've written!

Waverly yawned sleepily. Her temple was throbbing. The memory of Bobo firing his gun at her drifted lazily in her mind. Why wasn’t she in more pain?

Maybe she was dead.

“How are you feeling?” Nicole’s voice sounded as if she was in the next room, but she felt a gentle squeeze on her hand. The touch felt soothing.

Yep, definitely dead.

“Dead?” Waverly croaked.

Nicole chuckled softly. “No, thankfully not. You just hit your head. Pretty hard I might add, so stay still for a minute.”

“How long have I been out?” She asked, unable to work out what day it was, let alone the time.

“It’s been a whole day and another night since we were at the Johnson’s,” Nicole replied.

Man, getting shot must have really taken it out of her. No, wait, Nicole had said she had only hit her head? But Bobo had fired his gun straight at her.

“But… I got shot?” She whispered.

“No.” Nicole’s voice sounded cautious, like there was something she wasn’t telling her. If she didn’t get shot, then who did?

“Nicole?”

“Waverly, I need you to stay calm, okay?” Waverly moved her hand from Nicole’s grasp and put a hand over her eyes. Somehow she knew what was coming.

“Wynonna.” Her voice was barely audible. “Is she…?”

“She pushed you out the way and took the force of it. But she’s still alive Waverly. She was lucky, the bullet entered her arm.” Nicole said flatly.

Waverly let out a sigh of relief and looked up and Nicole. Wynonna was fine, people got shot in the arm all the time and all they got were scars. She smiled, but it wasn’t reciprocated.

“What’s wrong?”

“The bullet lodged deeply into the muscle without passing out the other side. It was a while before we could get you both back here, and she lost some blood.” Nicole’s eyes flickered to the door, “But that’s a story for later. Anyway, we did eventually manage to get the bullet out, I’m surprised you didn’t wake from all the yelling,” Nicole grimaced at the memory. “But since last night she’s developed a fever.”

It was a second before the gravity of the situation settled over Waverly. Nicole and Doc may be intelligent, but they practiced 19th century medicine. They probably didn’t know anything about preventing infection or about anesthetics, god they had probably just given Wynonna some whisky and started cutting her open.

A fever in modern times? Not a big deal. But a fever after some makeshift operation in the 1800s? Kind of a big deal.

“Waverly, if I’ve learnt anything from the last couple of days, it’s that Wynonna is strong. The fever will probably break in a couple of days and she’ll be fine.”

“What if it doesn’t?” Waverly needed to know.

“Waverly I –“

“Just tell me,” she interrupted. The last thing she needed was to be treated like a little kid.

“If the fever doesn’t break it’s likely that Wynonna has gangrene. But Doc and myself agree that’s unlikely to happen, the location of the wound for starters –“ Nicole started to ramble, listing a large range of reasons why the chances of Wynonna dying were extremely small. It did little to calm her, she needed to see Wynonna for herself.

“Can I see her?” Waverly interrupted. She gave Nicole her best puppy dog eyes, they’d always worked a treat on her uncle Curtis growing up.

Nicole smiled sympathetically, “Of course.”

==========

“Hey baby girl,” Wynonna murmured, “You look like shit.”

Waverly was perched on the edge of Wynonna’s bed, holding one of her hands in a vice-like grip. She wiped away a tear as it fell. Wynonna had a thin sheen of sweat over her body, a damp cloth on her forehead, a bandaged arm and dark circles under her eyes, but sure, Waverly was the one who looked like shit. She couldn’t help but roll her eyes at Wynonna’s logic.

“Thanks,” she sniffed, “so do you.”

“Don’t lie to me Waves, I’ve never looked better.” She winked weakly at Waverly.

A few tears spilled over Waverly’s cheeks.

“Shhh why are you crying?” Wynonna smoothed her thumb over the back of Waverly’s hand.

Waverly cursed herself for being so pathetic, Wynonna was the one who was injured yet she was the one consoling her. She looked behind her to make sure Nicole and Doc hadn’t re-entered the room.

“Wynonna, it’s not like we have access to modern medicine anymore. Things you and I take for granted haven’t even been discovered yet. If you get an infection they might try and amputate your arm! Or you could… die.” She forced the word out like it was poison.

Wynonna scoffed.

“It’s going to take more than a lousy shot to the arm to take out this Earp.”

When Waverly didn’t respond, she added, “I promise.”

“Thank you by the way, for saving me.”

“Like I was going to do anything else,” Wynonna scoffed. “You’re one of the good guys Waves,” she squeezed Waverly’s hand, “the best of us.”

Wynonna’s eyes slowly drooped closed as she drifted back off to sleep. Waverly stayed for a few minutes, watching the slow rise and fall of Wynonna’s chest. She couldn’t imagine what she would do if she had to carry on her life without Wynonna in it.

“You’re wrong Wynonna, you’re the best of us.”

==========

After Waverly had visited Wynonna, she decided to go and find something to read from the library to try and distract herself. But as she walked in, Nicole rose from the couch, and she was a distraction worth a hundred books.

“I’m sorry last night didn’t work out the way you wanted.”

Waverly sat next to Nicole on the couch and stared out the window.

“I’m going to help you find that bag if it’s the last thing I do,” she continued.

Waverly let her eyes drift to Nicole’s. She barely knew Waverly, yet here she was, going out of her way to help them.

“Why are you being so nice to us?”

Nicole sighed, running a hand through her hair. Waverly’s eyes followed the movement, wondering what it would be like to run her own hands through it. She looked back out the window to try and keep her inappropriate thoughts at bay.

“If there is one thing that I have learnt,” Nicole began, “it’s that the world we live in is hard enough without us making it harder for each other. Women need to support each other, because the men sure as hell aren’t going to do it.”

“Apart from maybe Doc.”

Nicole smiled, “Yeah, apart from Doc. But you’re in this mess because some scumbag mugged you. So, if I realise I have the power to help and I don’t, then that would make me no better than him.”

It was no wonder Nicole had no trouble wooing the ladies, when she spoke like that, so confident and honourable, Waverly felt herself struggling to remember why she shouldn’t just lean forwards and kiss her.

“Doc shot him by the way.”

Waverly blinked, surprised by the change in subject.

“Who… Bobo?”

“Yeah,” A grin spread over Nicole’s face, “He beat me too it.”

Waverly cast her mind back to the night’s events and distinctly remembered the sound of glass shattering.

“Did someone break something?”

“When he realised he’d been shot, the crazy bastard launched himself out the window.” Nicole shook her head, “We were two stories up! But when I looked out after him he wasn’t there. There was just a small pool of blood and that’s it.”

So Bobo was still out there? Waverly shuddered.

“Are you cold?” Nicole’s hand shifted slightly on the back of the couch, like she wanted to rub Waverly’s arm but changed her mind at the last second.

Waverly smiled warmly and shook her head.

“So how did you get me and Wynonna back here?”

“Well, Doc would deny it, but he’s the real hero of that story, so I think it’s only fair if he gets to tell it.” Nicole flashed her dimples and Waverly had to make a conscious effort not to audibly gulp.

“Let’s uhm talk about something else.”

“Of course! Got something in mind?”

Waverly thought for a second. Nicole obviously thought of Doc as her family, but surely she had to have some actual relatives.

“Tell me about your family?”

Nicole chuckled humourlessly as she looked at Waverly.

“I’m not sure what there is to tell. My parents practically disowned me and my sister isn’t here anymore.”

Waverly grimaced. There was a lot to unpack there. But there was also a lot she could relate to. She reached her hand over and placed it on Nicole’s forearm.

“I’m no stranger to family trauma. So, if you want to talk about it, then I may actually understand how you feel.”

Nicole gazed into Waverly’s eyes, and she felt her pulse quicken. She moved her hand from Nicole’s arm in case she could feel it through her palm.

“My parents didn’t agree with the way I wanted to live my life, so they told me to get out. So that’s what I did.” Nicole had a defiant expression.

“And your sister?” Waverly prompted. Nicole suddenly found her hands the most interesting thing in the room.

“My sister died too,” Waverly said softly, “And my father. And mamma left when I was little. It’s just been me and Wynonna since. That’s kind of why I freaked out back at the house, I don’t know how to live without her.” She tried to steady her breathing. “My daddy was a lawman, and he made himself some enemies. One night, they attacked our house, Willa got caught in the crossfire.”

Waverly looked at the trees outside the window as she thought back to that night. Wynonna had shoved her in her closet and held her hands over Waverly’s ears to try and block out the sounds of screaming. It hadn’t really worked.

Waverly felt the weight on the couch shift and looked up to see Nicole had moved closer to her. She was close enough that Waverly had to look up slightly to see her face.

“My sister was my favourite person in the world,” Nicole said softly. “She knew… everything about me, and she still loved me. She was kind and nurturing, and god she was clever too. We’d stay up at night and talk about how we’d turn our backs on what society had planned for us and travel the world together.” Nicole chuckled sadly to herself and began absentmindedly rubbing circles on the small space between them on the couch.

Her fingers were so close to Waverly’s thigh that she almost reached out and grabbed them. Shit. Her crush was definitely getting out of hand. Waverly looked away from Nicole’s fingers and back up to her face. Bad idea.

Waverly could only describe her expression as heartbroken. She remembered that the story with her sister had a bad ending.

“What happened to her?”

“She fell in love! That’s what happened! She fell in love and got married.” Nicole’s voice was surprisingly harsh, the change in tone gave Waverly whiplash.

“And then she died during childbirth whilst I was away in Switzerland, and my parents didn’t even bother to tell me until after the funeral.”

Before Waverly could stop herself, she leaned forwards and wrapped her arms around Nicole’s neck. It was like an instinct to comfort her.

“I know it won’t bring her back, but I am so sorry,” she murmured.

As she was about to pull away, Nicole lifted her arms and wrapped them around Waverly, pulling their bodies tightly together. Waverly breathed in in surprise and her lungs were filled with the smell of vanilla, just like the diary.

Before she could fully process the fact that her body was touching Nicole’s in about ten different places, there was a short knock at the door.

Nicole quickly pulled out of the hug and moved away from Waverly on the couch. The sudden absence of Nicole’s warmth raised goosebumps over her skin.

She turned to see Doc hovering in the doorway, twirling a small envelope between his fingers with a smirk on his face.

“Sorry to interrupt… but there’s a letter here for you.”

Nicole reached out her hand for the envelope.

“Oh, um it’s not for you... it’s addressed to a Miss Waverly Edison” He leaned forwards and put the letter on the arm of couch.

Waverly frowned at it. Who would be sending her a letter? Who even knew where she was? She looked at Nicole in confusion and received an equally mystified shrug in response.

She carefully picked up the letter and turned it over in her hands. She slid her finger under the seal and peeled it open. Reaching inside, her fingers closed over a single sheet of paper.

On one side, in all capital letters, was written:

_MEET ME AT THE ‘MOUTH EDGE’ AT 10.30PM SUNDAY EVENING._

_I KNOW ABOUT YOUR BAG._

_HAUGHT WILL KNOW WHERE TO FIND ME._

_NO WEAPONS._

_-A FRIEND_

It was written on what looked like a page ripped from a book. She flipped the paper over to see if anything else was written there but it was just the title page from ‘Pride and Prejudice’.

She read the note again before handing it to Nicole. Doc was leaning over the back of the couch so he could read it over her shoulder.

“This is great news Waverly, Sunday’s only in two days! You might be able to go home sooner than we thought!” Doc said enthusiastically.

Waverly knew she should be elated. Someone knew where her bag was. They’d be able to go home. But for some reason, Waverly also felt a twinge of sadness at the idea of leaving. She looked up at Nicole, and thought she saw a hint of her own sadness reflected there.

Waverly knew it was ridiculous. She’d been here less than a week. Nicole had had a life before Waverly had arrived and she would sure as hell have a life after her. She’d read about it with her own eyes in a diary that Nicole had written herself... or was still yet to write. Nicole was going to fall in love with Winnipeg Edison, maybe she already had, and Waverly couldn’t change that. She couldn’t just change history because she wanted to be selfish.

She cleared her throat.

“Do you know where they want to meet us?” Waverly asked, forcing a smile in response to Doc’s.

Nicole nodded.

“I think so. It reminds me of a spot over in the next village, where the stream empties into the lake. But are we sure we want to do this? Everything about this screams danger.”

Doc sighed and smoothed a hand over his mustache in thought.

“I don’t think you’ve got much of a choice.”

==========

Over the next couple of days, Waverly tried to spend as much time with Nicole as possible. She told herself that she was just making the most of her last few days with her, but underneath she knew she was just being selfish, indulging in the idea that something could happen between the two of them.

They had talked for hours, in the library, down by the stream, even in Wynonna’s bedroom whilst she was asleep. Every so often, Nicole would reach towards Waverly as they spoke, as if she wanted to brush her fingers over her skin, but would never follow through with it. It was driving Waverly crazy.

At least she’d stopped trying to convince herself that it was just a little celebrity crush. When she’d woken up from a particularly X-rated dream and started tearing up because it hadn’t been real, she’d decided it was probably time to cut the crap.

An enthusiastic discussion about Pride and Prejudice brought on by the note just confirmed Waverly’s feelings. Nicole spoke so eloquently about love that Waverly just found herself staring longingly into her eyes.

Nicole made Waverly feel more in a week than Champ had in three years. And she hadn’t even kissed Nicole. But _god_ she wanted to. She caught herself looking at Nicole’s lips more than she’d care to admit. She had to constantly remind herself that Nicole wasn’t available, and even if she was, letting herself get involved when she knew she would be leaving was an extremely bad idea. It wouldn’t be fair to herself, and it wouldn’t be fair to Nicole.

When she wasn’t thinking about Nicole, she was worrying about Wynonna. Her fever had stuck around, much to her dismay. If it hadn’t broken by Monday, Doc and Nicole were going to ‘discuss options’. She dreaded to think what that might mean.

She’d also noticed that Doc rarely left Wynonna’s bedside. Waverly had asked Nicole whether he had other patients he was meant to be attending to, but she had just flashed a knowing smile and changed the subject.

It seemed Waverly wasn’t the only one having trouble keeping their feelings in check.

=========

The meeting place was just over an hour walk away from Nicole’s house. Due to the time of the meeting, they’d agreed that trying to organise a carriage would be more trouble than it was worth. Waverly had secretly been grateful. It was an extra hour of Nicole time. Potentially her last hour of Nicole time.

“What are you thinking about?” Nicole interrupted Waverly’s daydream.

They were following the direction of the stream along a dirt track, the evening air was pleasantly warm and Waverly was extremely conscious of Nicole walking close beside her.

She hesitated before answering, trying to decide how honest she should be.

“I was thinking about the fact that I might be going home soon.”

“Ah.”

Waverly glanced at Nicole out of the corner of her eye. Her face was expressionless.

“I’m going to miss you,” Waverly admitted.

“We’ve become fast-friends, haven’t we?” Nicole smiled as she picked a leaf and started to pull it apart.

Waverly hummed in agreement as she tried to ignore the disappointment she felt at Nicole’s use of the word _friends_. Had she really expected anything different? The sooner she got the devices back, the sooner she could snap out of her little fantasy that Nicole could be anything more than her friend.

“We could write to each other?” Nicole suggested hopefully as she sprinkled the pieces of leaf back to the ground.

No. They couldn’t.

“Yeah, maybe.” Her lack of enthusiasm wasn’t lost on Nicole; her face fell slightly. They walked the next ten minutes in silence.

After crossing a small bridge, and pushing through some trees, the stream suddenly dropped in a small waterfall down into a large lake. The evening light had almost faded, but their lanterns led the way to a low wall down near the water’s edge.

Nicole rested her hands on the wall and looked out over the water. Waverly watched as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath in.

“Waverly, there’s um, something I want to tell you.”

Waverly jumped up onto the wall so she was sat facing Nicole and gave her an expectant look.

“I um. I er…”

Waverly could feel the tension rolling off Nicole. She placed her hand over Nicole’s on the wall and gave it a gentle squeeze.

“It’s okay.”

Nicole rolled her eyes.

“You don’t even know what I’m trying to tell you.”

“How bad can it be?” They stared into each other’s eyes, searching for the answers to questions neither dared speak aloud. Waverly was very conscious of the fact that her hand was still covering Nicole’s. How long was too long? She wetted her lips and almost shuddered with anticipation when she saw Nicole’s eyes dart down to follow the action.

“Well looky what we ‘ave here, a couple of dirty fucking Jacks.”

The pair’s heads snapped up towards the sound. There were four men holding bottles making their way towards them through the trees. Waverly gripped Nicole’s hand tighter in fear, but Nicole ripped her hand away.

“We don’t want any trouble,” Nicole bristled.

Waverly squinted into the darkness and thought she recognised one of the men. Her stomach flipped when she realised it was the creepy man Nicole had punched the other night in the bar.

A chill ran through her when they laughed. They sounded like a pack of hyenas closing in on their prey.

“You hear that Tucker? The Jack doesn’t want any trouble.” They all laughed again.

There was that word again. Jack. Waverly wished she knew what it meant. Not that it would help right now.

“We weren’t even doing anything wrong!” Waverly said in confusion.

The men had formed a loose semi-circle around them, Waverly could feel the cold stone of the wall pressing against her back.

“Now that’s what makes me sick,” one of the men sneered as he took a swig from his bottle. “You’ve brainwashed her into thinking there’s nothing wrong with what the likes of you get up to.” He pointed a grubby finger in Nicole’s face.

Nicole’s jaw was clenched so tightly that the muscles on her neck were standing out from the strain.

“We were just talking,” She said in a low voice.

The sudden smashing of a bottle against the ground made Waverly yelp in surprise. Another unsettling laugh rose from the group.

The man from the bar inched closer towards them. Waverly could feel her heart thudding against her ribs.

“We’ll leave you alone,” he slurred, pointing at Nicole, “if you just show us what you were up to.” He pointed at Waverly.

“What?” Nicole asked angrily. Her fists were clenched at her sides.

“Just pretend we’re not here.”

“Yeah you were enjoying it enough when we weren’t here.”

“I said, we weren’t doing anything,” Nicole growled. Waverly didn’t know whether to be more scared of the gang of men surrounded them, or of Nicole.

“Kiss her!”

“Yeeaah give her a kiss and we’ll leave you alone.” Waverly cringed as one of the men grabbed his crotch.

“No.”

“C’mon kiss her!”

“No.”

Waverly chanced a look at Nicole. If they said they’d go away if she kissed her, then why was she being so against it.

“Nicole mayb-“ Waverly whispered.

“I said NO. We weren’t kissing, we never have, and we never will. So why don’t you all just go back to your pathetic lives and we’ll be on our way,” Nicole snapped.

Despite the horrifying circumstances, Waverly couldn’t help but feel the sting of rejection. They could get out of this mess if Nicole would just kiss her. But apparently Nicole could think of nothing worse.

“You’re going to wish you hadn’t said that,” snarled the first man.

He lunged towards Nicole and swung his fist at her face. She managed to sidestep him and he fell head first into the wall and crumpled onto the ground. Waverly stood frozen against the wall.

Nicole surged forwards towards the next man and managed to plant a hit on his chin. The other two jumped forwards and grabbed her arms.

“Nicole!” Waverly screamed.

The man who’d taken the punch straightened up with a sickening grin, before planting a solid kick against Nicole’s knee.

She yelled out in pain as she tried to fall to the ground, but she was lifted back up by the other two men. Waverly moved forwards and grabbed one of their arms, but he swung out at her and slapped her across the cheek with the back of his hand, before turning back and punching Nicole in the face.

She stumbled backwards at the sudden impact.

Just as he lifted his foot to deliver another blow to Nicole’s leg, there was a loud shout from somewhere in the woods.

A woman’s voice called out ‘STOP!’ from the darkness. It sounded vaguely familiar.

The men suddenly dropped Nicole and started cursing. They picked up their friend who was slumped against the wall and stumbled away from them, running as fast as they could through the undergrowth whilst supporting his weight.

Once they were alone, Waverly ran forwards and dropped to the ground next to Nicole.

“Oh my god Nicole, are you okay?” She moved the hair out of her face with trembling fingers.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Nicole brushed Waverly away and tried to stand, but her knee gave way underneath her and she hit the ground again.

“You are _not_ fine! I think your knee’s busted. There’s no way we can get home with you like this.”

Nicole released a shaky breath and ran her fingers through her hair.

“There’s an inn nearby, I think I can make it that far.”

Waverly squinted in the direction of the voice, but there was no-one to be seen. She crouched and wrapped one of Nicole’s arms over her shoulders, lifting her as she stood. Nicole winced as she placed weight onto her leg but gritted her teeth, and they began to shuffle forwards.

===========

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised, chapter 6 is also being posted this week, come back on Friday to find out what happens at the inn... 
> 
> As always, thanks to my Beta @Earperfamily, and feel free to come and chat to me on twitter @Artemis_1707.


	6. Why's she so paranoid?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised, here is the second update for this week! This is mainly because this chapter is a little bit shorter and I felt mean making people wait a week for it...   
> Enjoy!

Waverly sat up slightly in her chair as Nicole stirred, the hazy morning sun giving the room a pleasant glow.

Their walk to the inn had been painstakingly slow, by the time they had made it up to their room the clock showed it was 11.20pm. They had walked in silence, it had been obvious to Waverly that Nicole didn’t want to talk to her. She had tried not to dwell on the fact that Nicole had preferred to take a beating than just give her a kiss, but that was easier said than done.

Nicole had passed out almost as soon as her head hit the pillow. Waverly had been too wired to sleep, so she’d settled in an armchair which was nestled in the corner of the room with a thick blanket wrapped around her shoulders and a book she’d found in the desk draw.

At some point in the night, she decided that she was going to confront Nicole. Even if she wasn’t interested in Waverly like that, this whole situation could’ve been avoided if she’d just kissed her. It was easy to be brave when Nicole was unconscious.

Nicole’s eyes fluttered open and immediately focused on Waverly.

“Hi,” she croaked, wincing as she rubbed the side of her jaw which had been punched the night before.

“Hey,” Waverly replied. “How’s your knee feeling?”

Nicole bent her leg under the covers and then straightened it again.

“A little stiff and swollen, but we should be able to walk home.”

Nicole was already thinking about going home? “Okay.”

Nicole seemed to detect that something was off with Waverly. She sat up in the bed and cleared her throat, a small crease appearing between her eyebrows.

“Is there something wrong?”

This was her opening.

“Was the idea of kissing me really worse than getting beaten up by a bunch of thugs?” Waverly had started with confidence, but it dissolved as she heard how ridiculous she sounded.

Nicole tilted her head to the side in confusion. She opened her mouth to speak and then closed it again.

“Waverly, I… I would never ask you to be someone you’re not.”

Waverly had prepared herself for a range of responses, including ‘I have a girlfriend’. But _that_ hadn't been one of them.

“What?” She breathed.

Nicole looked down at her hands as she spoke.

“You asked me before what a Jack was? Well,” Nicole took a deep breath, “when they use that to describe me, they’re… suggesting that I am interested… romantically… in the fairer sex.”

Nicole had practically just come out to Waverly. Obviously, she had already known, but it still felt like a huge moment. As far as society was concerned, being a lesbian was unthinkable, so Waverly was shocked that she’d actually just admitted it. When she didn’t respond straight away, Nicole began to further explain herself.

“And whilst I will _not_ apologise for who I am, I’ll be damned if I try and force this unnatural life onto anyone else. If I have to take a beating for standing by that then so be it.”

Waverly frowned. Had she heard Nicole correctly? She didn’t want Waverly to be something she wasn’t? Oh. Of course. Nicole had assumed that Waverly wasn’t like her. That if she kissed her, she’d be forcing her ‘unnatural ways’ onto her. She’d been trying to protect her.

To hell with self-restraint.

Waverly rose from her chair and walked purposefully towards the bed, her legs only slightly shaky. Nicole was still looking down at her hands, a faint blush painted over her cheeks.

Waverly folded her legs underneath her, so she was sitting facing Nicole.

“Nicole, look at me.” Waverly was surprised at how low her voice sounded. The thought of what she was about to do was obviously affecting her.

Nicole looked up, looking slightly startled by Waverly’s sudden proximity.

Waverly lifted her hand and gently brushed her fingertips over Nicole’s cheek. Nicole’s eyes slid closed and she leaned her face into the touch. It felt as though there was an electric current passing between them.

One kiss couldn’t hurt right? Before she could remind herself of all the reasons that this was an extremely bad idea, Waverly leant forwards to touch their lips together.

She felt Nicole freeze underneath her. Oh god. What was she thinking? Nicole wasn’t interested, she had Winnipeg. Waverly tried to pull away, but Nicole grabbed her arm and looked her in the eyes.

“Waves… are you sure?” Nicole’s eyes were wide.

“Yes.” She had replied way too quickly, and it reeked of desperation, but at this point, Waverly didn’t give a shit.

Nicole bit her bottom lip, and Waverly almost launched herself forwards.

She crushed their lips together and marveled at how soft Nicole’s skin was underneath her own. Nicole groaned and snaked a hand into Waverly’s hair, pulling her deeper into the kiss. Their mouths moved in sync with each other, as if this was their 100th kiss rather than their first.

Waverly couldn’t believe this was happening. She was kissing Nicole Haught. And _holy crap_ it felt good.

Her breathing quickened as she felt Nicole’s tongue flick over her bottom lip. She twisted her fingers in Nicole’s hair and hummed into the kiss, granting her permission.

Thoughts of Winnipeg flashed into Waverly’s mind. She remembered how passionate Nicole had been in her writings about her and she suddenly felt guilt wash over her. She shouldn’t stand in the way of Nicole’s future. Unless… Nicole wanted her to?

“Nicole… are you… free… to be doing this?”

Realisation dawned on Nicole’s face and she leaned forwards to capture Waverly’s lips once more. Whilst that hadn’t really been the definitive answer Waverly had been looking for in terms of Nicole and Winnipeg’s relationship status, it was enough… for now.

She swung one of her legs over Nicole so that she was straddling her lap and began to plant hot kisses along her jaw, all her pent-up energy flooding out.

She heard Nicole breathing hard and smiled to herself at the thought that she could have this effect on someone.

Suddenly, she felt herself being lifted up and dropped back onto the bed, her back now on the sheets. Nicole was positioned over her, one hand on the outside of her thigh, and the other placed square on the small of her back.

The kiss became slow and passionate, and Waverly became hyperaware of Nicole’s body pressing down on top of hers.

Nicole scraped her teeth over a particularly sensitive spot on Waverly’s neck and she shivered, digging her fingernails into Nicole’s back and pulling her impossibly closer.

A short knock on the door made them both freeze. They looked at it, breathing heavily. Another knock made Nicole suddenly pull herself off Waverly, and she felt cold without the contact.

Nicole straightened her clothes and ran a hand through her hair before opening the door. She positioned herself in the doorway so that whoever was on the other side wouldn’t be able to see a disgruntled Waverly lying on the bed.

She could hear murmuring before Nicole thanked whoever was on the other side and came back into the room holding a letter, a confused look on her face.

Waverly sat up on the bed and tried to comb her fingers through her hair.

“It’s a letter, addressed to both of us.”

Waverly raised an eyebrow in surprise.

“Well open it! See what it says!”

Nicole tore open the envelope and scanned her eyes quickly over the page. The frown on her face deepening the longer she looked at it.

Waverly crawled over on the bed and reached out to where Nicole was stood, holding her hand out for the letter. Nicole passed it to her without comment.

_WHEN WATER MEETS WOMAN AND THE HUNTER IS BORN,  
FOLLOW HIS BELT TO THE HEART WHICH IS TORN. _

_WHERE ALL ENERGY POINTS AND BECOMES SOMETHING NEW,  
THE NEXT CLUE THAT YOU SEEK IS WHERE YOUNG LOVE ONCE GREW._

\- _A FRIEND_

Waverly re-read the passage twice more before looking up to Nicole.

“The next _clue_? What is this, Sherlock Holmes?” Waverly snorted.

“Who?”

Waverly quickly continued speaking to try and cover her slip up.

“Do you think this is about my bag? Thanks to those thugs we missed whoever we were meant to meet last night.”

Nicole reached out and took the letter back, her fingers brushing momentarily against Waverly’s.

“Maybe? But how did they know we were here? He said this letter was delivered for us yesterday morning. Waves, we didn’t even know we were coming here, so how did they?”

Waverly puffed out her cheeks as she thought. A ridiculous idea entered her mind.

“Do you think that, maybe, whoever sent the first letter somehow knew we would end up here? Maybe they didn’t want to meet us at all, they just sent the group of guys after us?”

“Why would they do that if they’re trying to help us?”

Waverly twisted her mouth from side to side. She had nothing.

“I think we should get back home, talk to Doc and Wynonna about this. Someone is playing a game with us.” Nicole said, an angry glint in her eye.

A small part of Waverly wanted to stay here in this room with Nicole and indulge in her selfishness for a little while longer, but she knew that would be an extremely bad idea.

She stood from the bed and stretched.

“Okay, let’s go.”

==========

“Wynonna?”

Waverly perched on the edge of Wynonna’s bed and tucked a stray hair away from her face. Wynonna opened one of her eyes and grinned when she saw it was Waverly.

“Hey you.” She raised her good arm and pinched Waverly’s cheek.

“Good news, Doc said your fever finally broke this morning.”

Wynonna smiled weekly as her eyes slid closed again.

“I told you I’d be fine. Did he say anything else? About me?”

Waverly’s eyes narrowed suspiciously as she looked at her sister.

“Should I be expecting him to?”

There was a beat of silence before Wynonna replied.

“How’s your little crush going? Named all your future kids yet?” Waverly scowled at the change of subject, she wasn’t getting away with it that easily.

“Is there or is there not something going on between you and Doc?”

Wynonna opened her eyes and gave her a pointed look that said ‘ _seriously_ ’.

“Hypothetically, let’s say there was. Would it be such a big deal?”

Waverly couldn’t believe the hypocrisy.

“What happened to the whole ‘We’re leaving soon, don’t get involved it’ll break your heart, we could change the future?’”

“That doesn’t apply to me,” Wynonna smirked.

“And why would that be?” Waverly scoffed.

“Because it’s just the way I am. You find someone, you love them with everything you’ve got, and you never want to let go. Me? I’m totally fine with a hump and dump.”

“Wynonna. Please tell me you did not just say _hump and dump_??”

Wynonna wrinkled her nose.

“I’ll admit, not my finest work.”

“But you’ve been ill! That’s gross Wy, even for you.”

“Jesus Waverly stop overreacting, we haven’t slept together… yet” she winked. “So, what’s been happening? Catch me up baby girl.”

Waverly launched into an animated recount of the last 24 hours, but faltered when she got to the part with her and Nicole at the inn.

Wynonna frowned. 

“Tell me you didn’t kiss her Waverly.”

Waverly couldn’t help but blush at the memory of it.

“Waverly.” Wynonna looked pissed.

“I… just… I couldn’t help myself!”

Wynonna slapped Waverly’s arm.

“Are you kidding me? Are you _trying_ to screw yourself up! Do I need to spell it out for you? We. Are. Leaving. Why are you putting her through this? Why are you putting _yourself_ through this? You know how her story ends baby girl, and it isn’t with you.”

Waverly buried her head in her hands, guilt washing over her. Nothing Wynonna said was new to her. She already knew it all, she’d repeated it over and over in her head the whole walk home back from the inn.

“I know, I know, but it’s like all rationale goes out the window when I’m around her! God Wynonna, I’ve just messed everything up.”

“Did she kiss you back?”

Waverly raised her head from her hands and nodded.

“But you say she’s with this Winnipeg chick?”

Waverly shrugged.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but she doesn’t seem like the type of person who’d cheat on the love of her life with some randomer?”

Waverly considered that for a second.

“You mean, maybe they haven’t become… involved yet?” Waverly chewed the inside of her cheek as she thought over that possibility.

“I mean… There is a way we can find out…”

“No Wynonna.”

“You don’t even know what I was going to say!” Waverly knew exactly what she was going to say.

“You were going to suggest that we read Nicole’s diary and see where in her timeline we are.”

“Okay that’s freaky,” Wynonna frowned.

“I know you Wynonna. But we can’t just invade Nicole’s privacy like that! It’s wrong on so many levels.” Waverly already felt anxious and she hadn’t even done anything yet.

Wynonna rolled her eyes.

“Waves you’ve already read it, you literally have the completed version of it on your desk at home.”

“But I –“

“Just think about it for a second before you get all worked up.”

Waverly didn’t know why she was even entertaining Wynonna’s plan. Going into Nicole’s room and reading her diary – which Waverly wasn’t even meant to know about – would be a huge betrayal of her trust. But… on the other hand, what if she didn’t look, and kept getting more and more involved with Nicole and then it turned out she _was_ with Winnipeg already? She would have jeopardised Nicole’s whole future life and happiness.

Perhaps invading her privacy was a small price to pay to make sure she wasn’t hurting Nicole in the long run?

==========

“This is such a bad idea.”

Wynonna and Waverly were frantically rooting through Nicole’s bedroom.

“You’re the one who agreed to it!” Wynonna hissed as she tried to lift up a trunk from the floor. With one of her arms in a sling, it was proving difficult. “Can you stop whining and help me put this on the bed?”

Waverly closed the draw she was looking through and creeped over to Wynonna. Together they heaved the trunk onto the bed and flipped open the lid.

Waverly still felt extremely conflicted about the whole situation. She felt like she was walking an extremely thin line between being completely and utterly selfish, and caring so much about Nicole that she’d do anything to protect her, even if it meant doing something morally questionable.

She hadn’t stopped Wynonna from getting out of bed, walking down the corridor and into Nicole’s room. She hadn’t stopped her when she started opening draws and looking under the bed.

If Nicole was single, maybe she could kiss her again? But she’d have to make sure that they were both clear on the fact she was leaving. Otherwise the guilt would eat her alive. She could patch up her own heart once she got home, but she didn’t want to drag Nicole into it.

Waverly tried not to think about what would happen if Nicole wasn’t single. She may have singlehandedly fudged up Nicole’s perfect future with her lack of restraint.

She continued her search for the diary with a renewed urgency.

“Aha!” Wynonna cried, lifting a small red leather-bound book from the bottom of the trunk.

“Shhh!” Waverly looked over to the door, petrified that Nicole would walk in at any moment.

“Aha!” Wynonna repeated, this time in a whisper. She placed the book onto the bed and flicked through the pages until she reached the most recent entry.

“Ugh I forgot she wrote in a stupid code. Why’s she so paranoid?” Wynonna cursed and handed the book to Waverly.

“Gee I don’t know, maybe to stop this very thing from happening?” Waverly muttered.

Waverly’s eyes skimmed the page, translating as she went along. There was no mention of Miss W. Edison. She flicked to the page before and scanned it, again, no mention. When she reached an entry about Miss B. Gardner, she breathed a sigh of relief. Whilst she couldn’t really remember the exact details of what Nicole had written about Winnipeg, she knew that the two hadn’t crossed over.

So that meant that Nicole and Winnipeg… weren’t together yet?

“Well?” Wynonna looked at her expectantly.

“They’re not together yet.” Waverly couldn’t help but grin.

“Stop smiling, this doesn’t make everything okay Waves.”

Waverly rolled her eyes and snapped the diary closed. As she handed it back to Wynonna to replace it into the trunk, she got the sudden feeling that they weren’t alone. She slowly turned her head to the door, dreading what she might find.

Nicole was stood frozen in the doorway, eyes zeroed in on her diary in Wynonna’s hands.

==========

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo just when you thought they got their shit together it all comes crashing down... moral of the story: don't listen to Wynonna's plans. 
> 
> Tuesday is something a little different, a nice long Nicole POV chapter. We'll finally find out what's been going on in that big beautiful brain of hers, as well as some more backstory.
> 
> Thanks again for all your kudos and comments, it really does mean a lot! 
> 
> Aaand of course thank you to @Earperfamily. 
> 
> Feel free to come find me on twitter @Artemis_1707.


	7. Miss N. Haught and Miss W. Edison

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, here it is, the Nicole POV chapter!  
> I found this one particularly hard to write, as I wanted there to be a good balance between summarising events and Nicole describing events in real time... you can be the judge as to whether it worked out or not :') 
> 
> Anyway... there are some important questions answered in this one... so enjoy!

Nicole had known from the age of 14 that she was different. Every time her mother talked to her about the eventuality of men and marriage, she felt nauseous. Not once had she felt vaguely attracted to any of the boys in the village. She had, however, lost count of the number of times she’d found herself staring at the _girls_ and feeling like there were butterflies trapped in her stomach.

Nicole knew it was unnatural, she knew enough about biology from reading her father’s books to understand her purpose as a woman was to marry a man and have children. But however hard she tried (and believe her, she’d tried), her desires remained unwavering.

When she had finally confessed to her sister Edith on her 18th birthday, she’d just flashed her a knowing smile, tucked a stray strand of Nicole’s hair back behind her ear and started talking about something completely unrelated. Nicole had felt like a weight had been lifted, like she could breathe properly for the first time. Someone else knew, and somehow they still loved her.

If only the same could have been said for her parents. Naively, Nicole had expected a similar reception, but had instead been faced with denial and disgust. They’d told her to come to her senses or get out and never come back. Nicole had packed a bag and left that same night.

She’d spent the next seven years of her life travelling all over Europe, demanding to learn everything she could about the world from men who had been allowed to study. She’d noticed that her lack of desire to be with men, meant she felt free to be confident around them, and be unashamed in her thirst for knowledge.

Nicole had accepted when she’d left home that she was probably destined for a life of solitude; the idea that there may be other women like her out there was almost unthinkable. Surely, she was just a mistake, an anomaly in society. However, much to her surprise, there was something about her unapologetic confidence and carefree attitude that was apparently extremely attractive to women who were unhappy in their marriages.

For years, Nicole was satisfied with the brief encounters she would have with (mostly married) women. She saw it as just another field that she could become an expert in. But slowly, the knowledge that she had never had a truly meaningful relationship with someone began to eat away at her. She’d even written all her experiences in a diary to try and find just one example, but there’d been nothing. Once the women had spent the night, they went back to their husbands, and Nicole was left alone in the emptiness.

She had, however, made a meaningful friend in a man called John Henry Holliday or ‘Doc’ as he liked to be called. They had met at a dinner party whilst visiting a mutual friend in Spain and had immediately hit it off. When he’d mentioned that he was a man of medicine, Nicole had seized the opportunity with both hands. Medicine fascinated her, and she’d found that there was only so much she could learn from books.

They’d stayed together for a few more weeks in Spain, before travelling to France, Italy, Switzerland and back to Spain again. Unlike most men, Doc didn’t appear to be intimidated by Nicole’s confidence, intelligence, or even her choice in clothing. Instead, he was generous with his knowledge, and Nicole’s passion flourished under his teachings.

But the thing that surprised Nicole the most about him, was his capacity for acceptance. Doc was more accepting of Nicole than her own parents had been.

She hadn’t planned on sharing that part of herself with him, terrified that she’d lose him as a friend. But the secret was out when he’d walked in on her with a local Spanish woman, Rosita, in a somewhat compromising position. She’d run out after him and tried to explain herself with a million excuses, but he’d simply put a hand on her shoulder, smiled and told her he already knew. That he’d known for months.

When the constant travel had started to wear on the both of them, they had decided to return to England together to practice medicine. There was a run-down estate on the outskirts of the small village of Churchley, where Doc had grown up, that they’d immediately fallen in love with and vowed to restore to its former glory.

Nicole enjoyed living with Doc and the day to day life which that entailed, but she couldn’t help the feeling of loneliness that engulfed her. She still had the burning desire to be loved by someone, who could be hers and hers alone. She didn’t want to keep chasing unavailable women.

Nicole’s world was turned upside down when a Miss Shae Pressman visited her Aunt and Uncle who lived in the neighbouring estate. They had asked Nicole to keep her company whilst she was visiting. Long story short, Nicole had fallen for her. Hard. And by some miracle, Shae had felt the same way… or so she’d thought.

They’d met almost every day in a little hut hidden in Shae’s garden, away from the prying eyes of the world. It was the first time that Nicole allowed herself to believe that maybe she wouldn’t have to be alone forever after all.

Nicole had choked on her tea when she read the announcement in the newspaper that Shae was engaged to be married to Captain John Richard. She ran to Shae’s house and demanded to see her, but the staff had told her that she had already left.

After that, she lay in her bed for three days straight, refusing to eat anything Doc brought her. She’d felt like her heart was physically breaking inside her chest. Doc had tried his best to take her mind off things. He’d even introduced her to a Miss Beth Gardner, and Nicole had tried to enjoy herself, but she couldn’t, because as lovely as Beth was, she just wasn’t Shae.

On one drunken night at the boxing ring, Doc had told Nicole to get a grip and stop chasing women she knew wouldn’t stay. Nicole had promised him.

She had kept her promise for almost a year.

And then, Waverly Edison had showed up.

=========

Nicole’s eyes slid open as she heard a faint knocking sound. When it stopped, she rolled over and settled back into her pillow.

She woke again when she felt a hand on her arm, gently shaking her. She squinted into the light of the lantern and saw that Doc was stood next to her bed in his night clothes.

“What the –“ Nicole croaked, her voice thick with sleep.

“Grab your coat Haught, apparently there are some people who need our help.” He waved a note in the air before throwing it onto Nicole’s chest.

“What time is it?” She asked as she blinked at the note.

“Just after midnight, I think” Doc replied as he smoothed a hand over his mustache.

Nicole skimmed her eyes over the paper.

_PEOPLE BY THE STREAM NEED YOUR HELP._

She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and climbed out of bed, wrapping her long jacket around herself.

If people needed her help, then sleep could wait.

==========

“So… was it just me who was expecting beggars?”

Nicole and Doc were stood by the stream at the bottom of their garden, holding their lanterns over the bodies of two young women.

“Nope,” Doc replied, popping the ‘p’.

Nicole bent down next to one who was wearing an elegant blue dress, whilst Doc tended to the other. She checked for a pulse, breathing a sigh of relief when she heard it. It was weak, but it was there. She brushed the hair out of the woman’s face to see if she recognised her from the village and her breath caught in her throat.

She was beautiful. More than beautiful. Her features were almost angelic, even in sleep. She definitely wasn’t from the village, she would’ve remembered a face like that.

Nicole shook her head and turned to Doc.

“Mine’s alive, how about yours?”

“She seems fine, but they need to get out of the cold. I think the spare beds are still made up, they can stay until we can make sure they’re okay.”

Nicole felt a little thrill at the idea of new people in the house, it had been just her and Doc for far too long.

“Are you okay to lift her? Or shall I come back?” Doc asked as he carefully lifted the girl in Burgundy up from the ground and into his arms.

Nicole rolled her eyes.

“I’m stronger than you and you know it.”

She heard Doc chuckle as she bent down and slid her arms under the woman’s body, lifting her up and hugging her into her chest.

=========

In the morning, Nicole had had to go into the village to fetch a new diary. When she had been travelling, writing a diary had been a way for her to make sure she never forgot where she had been, who she had met and what she had learnt. Since returning to England, she continued to write everything down out of habit.

Upon her return to the house, she heard muted conversation coming from upstairs. Their guests must finally be awake. She practically ran up the stairs and into the first spare bedroom. Doc was alone inside, leaning against the wall with his arms folded. Nicole raised an eyebrow at him and he jerked his chin to the door of the adjoining room.

She strode over to the door and knocked, taking a deep breath to try and kick her confidence into action. She heard one of the women tell her to come in, and she pushed her way into the room.

As she entered, she realised she was still wearing her top hat and quickly pulled it off her head, cursing to herself when her red hair fell around her cheeks. She removed one of her gloves before reaching out her hand towards the women and flashing them her widest smile.

Nicole’s eyes immediately fell onto the woman wearing the blue dress, and she gulped. If she had thought she was beautiful when she was lying unconscious in the garden, then she didn’t have the words to describe her now. She was shorter than Nicole by about a head, with long brown hair that fell in perfect waves around her face. Her eyes were a warm hazel, and she had a nice pink tint to her cheeks.

It took all her power to force herself to start speaking.

“I hope you two are feeling better, quite an unusual situation even for us wasn’t it John?” She called over to Doc who was leant against the door frame behind her. “This is my dear friend Doctor John Henry Holliday, but I usually just call him Doc. And my name is Nicole. Nicole Haught.”

Her hand was still outstretched as she watched the woman in burgundy lean in to whisper to the other. Maybe they didn’t speak English? Just as she was considering whether to try talking to them in French or Spanish first, the girl in the blue dress squeaked. An endearing blush flooded her cheeks and she cleared her throat. She looked nervous.

“I’m Waverly, and this is my sister Wynonna.”

Waverly. What an unusual name. It was perfect. Waverly who? And was that an American accent? Nicole needed to know more.

“And do you ladies have a last name?”

Both of them spoke at the same time, telling her it was Edison.

Nicole knew another Edison: Winnipeg Edison, the old widow who took over the local book shop after her husband had died. She cocked her head to the side inquisitively.

“Edison? Any relation to Miss Winnipeg Edison?”

Both girls shook their heads, looking slightly uncomfortable. Of course they looked uncomfortable, Nicole had practically cornered them in their own bedroom. Perhaps they’d feel better talking over some food instead.

“Obviously a popular name! Right, you two must be hungry, Doc and I will go and put together some breakfast and we can talk some more, find out what you remember about last night. You can tell us all about America! We’ll wait for you in the drawing room, it’s down the stairs and on the left.” Nicole flashed them another welcoming smile before turning to leave the room.

“Doc, can you put some bread over the fire for breakfast please, I’m going to go and get changed.”

Doc chuckled.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

Nicole scoffed, “For the millionth time, if I want to wear trousers in the comfort of my own home then I will.”

“Maybe our guests will be able to settle our debate,” he winked.

Nicole rolled her eyes and entered her room to change, already counting down the minutes before she would be able to talk to Waverly again.

==========

As Nicole listened to Wynonna talk about their mugging, she couldn’t help but clench her fist against the table. Too many times she had treated women in the hospital who had been put there by a man. She’d developed a strange protectiveness over such cases. Perhaps that was why she felt herself getting overinvested in Waverly and Wynonna’s problem. Yes, _that_ was why she was overinvested.

Nicole was excited by the prospect of having the afternoon to get to know Waverly better, one on one. And she hadn’t been disappointed. The look on Waverly’s face when she’d seen the library was priceless. Nicole wondered if that’s how she looked when she was around books. She couldn’t help but brush her fingers over some of the spines, just being around them made her feel calmer.

Waverly’s evident love for books reminded her of Winnipeg Edison again, they’d often entered heated discussions about their favourites when Nicole visited the shop, usually for a new diary.

“Are you sure you are of no relation to Winnipeg Edison? Perhaps you are distant cousins.”

“As far as I know we’re not related! Is she a good friend of yours?”

Nicole wouldn’t describe Winnipeg as a good friend, she was about 30 years older than her and for the most part they had nothing in common, apart from their love of books.

“Oh, I see her from time to time,” She replied with a vague smile.

Waverly fell into silence, looking like she was deep in thought. But Nicole didn’t want that to be the end of their conversation, she wanted to know more about her, no, she _needed_ to know more about her, whether they had anything in common. She’d found in the past that asking about someone’s reading habits was a good way to quickly find out if two people had any similarities.

“So, tell me Waverly, what is it you like to read?”

=========

“Doc?”

Doc looked up from his book. He was sat in an armchair by the window in his bedroom.

“Come in,” he replied as he shut his book and placed it onto his lap. Nicole chewed her lip as she took a seat in the chair opposite him.

“I think I know what this is about,” he said with a smirk. Nicole ran a hand through her hair and chuckled.

“Am I that obvious?” She felt her cheeks heat in embarrassment.

“To me, Haught, you are like an open book,” he winked and tapped the front of the book he was holding with his finger.

Nicole groaned and put her face in her hands. Her afternoon with Waverly had been completely unexpected. They had talked for hours, and she hadn’t even noticed. Nicole couldn’t remember meeting a woman who could talk so intelligently, and with so much passion! She had almost been annoyed when she’d heard Doc and Wynonna return. Somehow, four hours hadn’t been enough.

“What am I going to do?”

“I’m afraid there’s nothing much you can do. She’s leaving for America as soon as we recover her things. Remember what you promised me!”

Why did Doc always have to be right?

“Ugh I know but, Doc, she’s clever, and witty, and –“

“Believe me, I understand where you’re coming from Nicole, I know how rare it is to feel a connection with someone so quickly and so absolutely. But you promised that you wouldn’t go after women you knew you couldn’t have, to protect yourself. I don’t think I need to remind you why.” He gave her a sympathetic look.

Nicole had tried her best to forget those dark days after Shae left. She knew she didn’t ever want to go back to that. And it hadn’t been easy for Doc to deal with either. But somehow it had been easy to forget all that when she’d been around Waverly.

“I just…”

“Nicole. If I truly believed that this could have a happy ending, then you know I would be nothing but supportive.” He reached over and squeezed her hand, “But I am telling you, as your friend, not to get any more invested in Waverly Edison.”

Nicole felt conflicted. On the one hand, she wanted more than anything to try and charm Waverly, it was almost like something she felt compelled to do. On the other, she was very conscious of the fact that the chances Waverly was open to even the idea of being with another woman were extremely slim. She hadn’t missed the way Waverly had jerked her arm out from under Nicole’s touch this afternoon on the sofa. Maybe it would be best to simply become friends with her? She could be friends with a beautiful and intelligent woman without falling for her? Couldn’t she?

Nicole sighed.

“Fine! You win! You can’t stop me from being her friend though.”

Doc smirked and reopened his book.

“You’re not known for self-control when it comes to beautiful women.”

Nicole shrugged, “How hard can it be?”

Hard. Very hard indeed.

=========

Nicole knew that taking the Edison sisters to Doc’s bar had been a risk, but she needed the distraction. When Nicole watched boxing, everything else went away, and she really really needed everything else to go away right now.

Her talk with Doc hadn’t gone in the direction she’d hoped, and she needed to forget all about it. She knew he was right, pursuing Waverly would be dangerous. But she couldn’t help but feel a little thrill when she found herself alone with her once again at a table in the bar.

When Eliza brought them over some drinks, she tried to channel all her pent-up flirty energy into her rather than Waverly, and flashed a smile that had worked wonders in the past. She felt smug as she watched her retreating from the table, giggling.

“People seem to like you around here.”

Nicole realised her eyes had lingered on Eliza for a little too long. She looked back at Waverly, unable to decide whether she was asking her or telling her.

“Is that a question or a statement?”

“You tell me.” Nicole watched as Waverly picked up her glass and took a sip. She took a second to decide how honest her response should be.

“I’d say people round here tolerate me. Some like me more than others.” She couldn’t help but look back at Eliza, maybe she should try and make something happen there, to distract herself from Waverly? “But I imagine they only do that because most of them think I’m married to Doc.” Nicole laughed as she remembered a particularly awkward dinner party where they’d been asked if they were going to start a family soon.

Waverly looked surprised. Apparently, it wasn’t as obvious as Nicole thought that they weren’t a couple.

“You’re not?”

The thought of being romantic with Doc made her laugh again.

“Gosh no. He’s more like the brother I never had. He accepts me for who I am.” Nicole hadn’t meant to say that last part, but there was something about Waverly that made Nicole just want to spill all her secrets. She tried to cover it up by taking a long sip from her glass. Ah yes, because alcohol was going to help her speak _less_ freely.

Watching Doc box was one of Nicole’s favourite things to do, second only to boxing Doc herself. She had been so absorbed in his fight, that she had almost missed the interaction between Waverly and Tucker Gardner.

When she’d turned to Waverly to ask for her opinion, she’d caught her struggling against his obviously unwanted affections.

A wave of anger crashed over her and before she had really known what she was doing, she punched him in the nose.

“I think she said she wasn’t interested.” Her voice came out almost like a growl.

“Don’t touch me you fucking Jack.” Nicole froze, the word stabbing into her. She hated it, everyone knew what it implied. If Waverly hadn’t known her secret before, then she definitely did now. She hardly even flinched when he pulled out a knife, she just wanted the ground to swallow her up.

Doc’s sudden appearance brought her back to reality, and she released a shaky breath. She blushed as she realised Waverly was holding her arm. She tried to rub the stinging out of her knuckles.

“Thank you.” Nicole looked up to see Waverly facing her. She felt a renewed anger for what had just happened.

“Women shouldn’t have to deal with scum like that.”

“What’s a Jack by the way?” Oh. Maybe her secret was still safe? Perhaps the slang didn’t exist in America.

“It doesn’t matter,” she quickly replied. She tried to force a smile and change the subject. “Fancy another drink?”

==========

Despite the heavy drinking the night before, Nicole woke at her usual time. She couldn’t help but grin as she sifted through her memories. Waverly had been extremely familiar with her touches, and it had taken all of Nicole’s self-restraint not to just grab her and kiss her on the table. And then there had been Wynonna! A drinker and a fighter? Now there was a woman Nicole wouldn’t have a problem being friends with.

Her smile faltered slightly when she remembered that Wynonna and Waverly wouldn’t be around much longer. She’d have to make the most of their company whilst she still could.

Unable to fall back to sleep, Nicole washed her face and got dressed in a comfortable pair of trousers and a vest. The fire had been burning throughout the night, and the house was warmer than usual. She looked in the mirror at her hair and sighed. There was no way she’d be able to tame it. She pulled it back into a loose bun, grabbed her new diary from the desk and headed down into the drawing room.

She’d just about finished recounting the past few days in her diary when Waverly made an appearance. Nicole couldn’t help the inappropriate thoughts that flashed through her mind when she saw she was still in her night dress. Especially as she recalled how a drunken Waverly had just started stripping off her day dress in Nicole’s room after asking to borrow the nightwear, not seeming to care that Nicole was stood frozen watching her, mouth open in surprise.

They’d been talking about her diary when Waverly had suggested that they could make her famous one day. The idea had almost been comical. As she stared at Waverly, her mind wandered to her ‘ _special’_ diary, as Doc called it. She still felt smug about the secret code she had created. This way, even if someone did find it, they at least wouldn’t know _all_ her secrets.

She felt a sudden urge to write about Waverly in there. Once Wynonna had re-emerged from the library, Nicole had decided to excuse herself and ‘run some errands’.

She raced to her bedroom to retrieve some loose pages, a quill and some ink from the heavy trunk at the end of her bed, threw on a jacket and made her way out the back door and into the garden. Nicole always loved writing outside. There was something about feeling the sun on her skin that made pouring her feelings onto the page so much easier.

Unlike her normal diary, Nicole didn’t write directly into her private one. She usually wrote everything she wanted to say in plain English on some loose pages and then translated it into her diary at a later date, before burning the evidence. It left less room for mistakes.

She walked to the stream and hopped down to her favourite spot. It was hidden from view to anyone looking out the window, and the privacy helped her to relax.

The nib of her quill hovered over the page. What to say about Waverly Edison?

_I’ve known Miss W. Edison but 24 hours, and yet I feel I will never be the same._

==========

Even after all of Nicole’s adventures with Doc, she had to admit that raiding an abandoned farm house in the middle of the night with two Americans they had just met dressed as men, was up there with one of the most bizarre things she had ever done. But she found herself just wanting to help Waverly in whatever way she could… that was perfectly fine for a friend to do, right?

Being partnered with Waverly had been the perfect opportunity to find out more about her. But Nicole had noticed that Waverly had been a bit hesitant with some of her answers. The last thing she wanted to do was come off too strong, so she’d let Waverly take the reins for a while with the questions.

Waverly had kept circling back to Nicole’s family, but it had definitely not been the right time to get into all of that drama. She also didn’t miss the fact that she asked about Winnipeg Edison a number of times, which Nicole found beyond peculiar. Maybe she’d just run out of things to ask her about and remembered that she’d mentioned her once or twice before.

Nicole hadn’t realised how different life in America was, Waverly talked about things which she had never even heard of, and used words for which Nicole had no definition. It was utterly fascinating.

The evening had taken a somewhat surprising turn, first when Waverly had thought that her sister had been shot and had had some kind of breakdown, and then when Wynonna had actually been shot not ten minutes later. Waverly’s reaction had reminded Nicole of herself when she’d received the news about her own sister. She remembered feeling like the sun would never rise again in the endless darkness.

Seeing that man with his gun pointed at Waverly’s face had almost frozen Nicole in fear. She had tried to reach into her jacket for her gun, but was too late. His finger had squeezed the trigger.

Everything had happened so fast. Wynonna had leaped into action and shoved Waverly out of the way. Nicole winced as she saw Waverly’s head hit the edge of a cabinet. Doc had pulled his gun and shot Bobo in the side. He’d then charged at Nicole who managed to dodge him, and he launched himself through the window.

She’d run to the window to look out to the ground below, but there was no sign of him. She turned back to the room and saw Doc crouched next to Wynonna. She was holding her arm and shouting at the top of her lungs. Nicole’s eyes widened as she heard the string of profanities, most of which she’d never heard before.

“Nicole, rip some of that sheet and pass it to me.”

She did as she was told, before rushing over to Waverly to examine her. Doc tied the material tightly above the bullet hole, muttering to himself as he worked to stop the bleeding.

Nicole stroked her thumb over Waverly’s temple, and felt a small lump forming. She was still breathing, that’s all that mattered.

“Is Waverly okay?” Wynonna asked breathily.

“I think you probably saved her life,” Doc murmured.

“Cool.”

“Do you think you can walk?” Nicole asked Wynonna as she held Waverly’s head in her lap.

“I got shot in the arm not my legs Haught,” Wynonna said sarcastically. “How are we gonna get Waverly back?”

“I’ll carry her,” Doc volunteered as he helped Wynonna stand.

“Doc it’s like two miles to the house!” Wynonna’s jaw was hanging open.

“And?” He asked as he lifted her into his arms.

==========

As Nicole and Waverly walked to meet the mystery ‘friend’ who had sent them the suspicious note that Sunday evening, Nicole couldn’t help but think about the last few days she’d had with Waverly.

They had spent countless hours together all over the estate deep in conversation. Nicole had talked more about herself to Waverly than she had to anyone else, apart from perhaps Doc… and Shae. She’d even told her about her sister – something she usually avoided at all costs.

Nicole would lose herself in Waverly’s eyes, and forget all sense. She wanted nothing more than to touch her, just to run her fingers over her skin. There had been a number of close calls where her hand had moved instinctively towards her, but she had caught herself at the last moment.

She had to constantly remind herself that Waverly was leaving. She didn’t know when, but it was inevitable, and therefore she could be nothing more than her friend.

Nicole was very aware of how close Waverly was walking next to her as they wandered alongside the stream. What she wouldn’t give to be able to reach out and take her hand. Waverly had an intriguing expression, and before Nicole could stop herself she asked her what she was thinking.

“I was thinking about the fact that I might be going home soon.”

Nicole tried her best to respond neutrally, despite the pain she felt hearing Waverly talk about going home.

“Ah.”

“I’m going to miss you.”

Nicole swallowed thickly. Waverly was going to miss her? Nicole was ready to confess her feelings there and then, but Doc’s face flashed into her mind. She suddenly felt guilty, it wouldn’t be fair to Waverly to suddenly put this on her, it would probably just make her uncomfortable.

“We’ve become fast-friends, haven’t we?” Nicole grimaced internally at her use of the word ‘ _friend_ ’, she tried to hide her discomfort by picking a leaf from a nearby bush. Maybe there was a way she could keep Waverly in her life.

“We could write to each other?”

“Yeah, maybe.”

_Maybe._ Nicole suddenly felt like the biggest idiot in England. She’d been so preoccupied with trying to control her own intense feelings, had she misread Waverly’s? Nicole had assumed that Waverly had at least enjoyed talking to her, even if there was no hint of romance in it for her. But surely if she wanted to be Nicole’s friend then she would at least commit to staying in touch?

When they had reached the meeting point, Nicole had decided to tell Waverly the truth about herself. Not about her feelings for Waverly specifically, but just to generally tell her the truth about who she really was. If Waverly really wasn’t going to write to her once this was over, then she was going to put everything out there.

But things had taken a turn for the worse when Tucker Gardner had decided to make yet another extremely unwelcome appearance, this time with a few of his low-life friends.

When they’d demanded her and Waverly to kiss, she’d seen red.

She would _never_ force another person to change who they were, and if she had to take a beating to protect Waverly, then she would do it a thousand times over.

==========

She lay in the bed at the inn with her eyes closed, pretending to be asleep. She had half hoped that Waverly would climb into the bed next to her, but she had wrapped herself in a blanket and settled into a chair in the corner with a book instead.

Nicole’s knee was throbbing painfully, the walk to the inn had been slow and uncomfortable. Waverly hadn’t said two words to her. She had probably worked out what a Jack was by now and wanted nothing to do with her. Waverly had come across as pretty open minded, but everyone had their limits.

At some point in the night she must have finally drifted off, because the next thing she knew her eyes were fluttering open.

She immediately checked to see if Waverly was still in the chair. There was so much she wanted to say to her about the previous night, but she didn’t know how to start.

“Hi,”

“Hey,” Waverly replied, “How’s your knee feeling?”

Nicole bent her leg under the covers. It didn’t feel as bad as it had last night. She knew Waverly probably wanted to leave the inn as soon as possible to get away from her.

“A little stiff and swollen, but we should be able to walk home.”

“Okay.”

It was evident that there was something wrong. She readied herself for the inevitable confrontation about the night before.

“Is there something wrong?”

“Was the idea of kissing me really worse than getting beaten up by a bunch of thugs?” Waverly sounded angry, but her words hadn’t been what Nicole had been expecting.

It took her a second to work out what she had actually said. She was annoyed that Nicole _hadn’t_ kissed her? Oh. Maybe she _still_ didn’t know what a Jack was, that it would be more than just a kiss for Nicole. If Nicole had kissed her, then she would be dragging Waverly into a whole lot of trouble.

“Waverly, I… I would never ask you to be someone you’re not.”

Her answer seemed to take Waverly by surprise. This was her opportunity to be honest. She looked down at her hands, it would make this easier if she didn’t have to see the disgust in Waverly’s eyes.

“You asked me before what a Jack was? Well,” Nicole took a deep breath, “when they use that to describe me, they’re… suggesting that I am interested… romantically… in the fairer sex.” There was a beat of silence before Nicole continued. “And whilst I will _not_ apologise for who I am, I’ll be damned if I try and force this unnatural life onto anyone else. If I have to take a beating for standing by that then so be it.”

Silence filled the room.

“Nicole look at me.”

Nicole hadn’t heard Waverly move, but she was suddenly sat extremely close to her on the bed. Waverly brushed her fingers over Nicole’s cheek, and the touch set her skin on fire. She closed her eyes and leaned into the touch, trying to enjoy the sensation for as long as she could.

Suddenly, she felt Waverly’s lips on her own. She froze. What was happening? She felt Waverly pull away. Before Nicole could stop herself, she grabbed Waverly’s arm. She needed to make sure Waverly knew what she was doing.

“Waves… are you sure?”

“Yes.”

Nicole couldn’t help but bite her lip, Waverly hadn’t even taken a second to think.

Their lips crashed together once more, and Nicole felt like she had finally made it to heaven.

==========

On their walk home, Nicole put all her energy into trying to decipher their new clue. If she allowed herself to think about what had happened with Waverly on the bed, she’d grab her and kiss her in the middle of the street.

She repeated the words over and over in her head, but she wasn’t getting any inspiration. She liked riddles as much as the next person, but solving this one would determine how much longer Waverly stuck around. And there was a selfish part of Nicole, a worryingly large part, that wanted to keep Waverly as long as possible.

Once they got home, Waverly excused herself to Wynonna’s room. They didn’t quite know how to leave each other and both attempted to kiss the other on the cheek at the same time.

When Nicole was alone, she went off to find Doc. She knocked on his bedroom door.

“Ah Nic, did you find the bag?”

Nicole chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of her neck, “funny story actually…”

===========

“ _She_ kissed _you?”_ Doc had a look of disbelief on his face.

“Believe me, I was surprised too,” Nicole blushed at the memory of Waverly straddling her lap.

“What happened to just being her friend?” He raised an eyebrow at her.

“Doc, _she_ kissed _me_. And there’s no way I was going to stop her.”

“Just remember –“

“She’s leaving, I know, I know.” Nicole rolled her eyes.

“Actually, what I was going to say was just remember that whatever you decide to do, whether I agree with it or not, I’ll still be here to help you through it at the other end.”

Nicole felt tears prick her eyes. She really didn’t deserve a friend like Doc.

“What’s going on with you and Wynonna? I feel like I need to return the favour of advice giving.” Nicole smirked. She hadn’t missed the fact that Doc had been spending an unusual amount of time at Wynonna’s bedside, no patient needed _that_ much observation.

There was a twinkle in Doc’s eye that Nicole had never seen before.

“Apparently I’m finding it difficult to follow my own advice,” he shook his head, chuckling as he continued, “now get out of here, I know you’re dying to write all about your morning in your diary.”

“You know me so well,” Nicole laughed. She removed herself from Doc’s room, grinning to herself. She really was getting far too invested in Waverly, but she couldn’t find it in herself to care.

As Nicole approached her room, she thought she could hear muffled voices from inside. She frowned and pushed open the door.

She couldn’t quite comprehend what she was seeing.

Waverly was stood next to her open trunk on the bed, the one where she hid her _special_ diary. A flash of red caught her eye.

The diary was in Wynonna’s hands.

=========

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there you have it.  
> Nicole knows W. Edison is Waverly, we know W. Edison is Waverly, but will Waverly ever find out that W. Edison is Waverly?
> 
> Apologies for the cliffhanger yet again, but technically it's the same as last weeks, so it shouldn't be too shocking...
> 
> Please do let me know what you think! I always enjoy the feedback :) 
> 
> Thanks again to my Beta @Earperfamily and come chat to me on twitter if you feel like it @Artemis_1707


	8. Well... that could have gone better

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone,  
> I hope you're all staying safe.  
> Thank you to everyone who commented on my Nicole POV chapter last week, it was nice to see that people thought it worked!  
> Now onto chapter 8...

_Shit shit shit._

If someone looked up the definition of ‘I fucked up’ in the dictionary, there would just be a photo of what was happening right now.

Nicole had caught her and Wynonna red-handed, in her room holding her diary. And not just any diary, her _extremely private_ diary that Waverly wasn’t even meant to know about.

The three of them were all staring at each other, neither of them sure who should make the first move. Nicole looked like she wanted to shout a thousand things, but just couldn’t decide which one she wanted to say first.

“What… what are you doing?” Nicole’s voice was shaking, Waverly couldn’t tell if it was from anger or pain. Probably both. Definitely both.

Waverly and Wynonna stared at each other, panicked.

“Well… um… Waverly wanted to write something down, and um… I suggested that you might have some paper and pens –“

“Quills,” Waverly coughed.

“Paper and quills… so we came in to have a look…” Waverly cringed. Wynonna couldn’t have been less convincing if she’d tried.

One look at Nicole’s face and Waverly knew she hadn’t bought it. She looked at Waverly with a pained expression, and it felt like she was staring straight into her soul.

“Waverly, please tell me the truth. Please.” Her voice broke slightly as she spoke.

A voice in Waverly’s head told her to do it. To tell Nicole _everything_. But she couldn’t. The consequences of a single moment of honesty were unimaginable.

“I wanted to write something down, and we came across the book whilst we were looking. But don’t worry, we couldn’t read it.

Nicole flinched as though she’d been slapped.

“You… you tried to read it?”

Waverly wanted to hit her head against the wall for being so stupid. She had meant to say they _didn’t_ read it, not couldn’t read it.

Nicole strode forwards and snatched the diary from Wynonna. She turned to leave the room but seemed to think better of it at the last second.

“This is _private_ , do you understand? Next time you need something from me Waverly, just ask me, instead of sneaking around behind my back.”

“Nicole, wait!” Waverly shouted after Nicole as she left through the door, she hadn’t even said sorry yet. She grabbed Nicole’s arm.

“Get off me.” Nicole pulled her arm out of Waverly’s grip. “I can’t look at you right now.”

Waverly stopped still in the corridor and watched as Nicole stormed out of sight, still slightly limping. She heard the front door slam as Wynonna came out the room behind her.

“Well… that could have gone better.”

===========

It was already dark outside by the time Nicole returned. Waverly had spent the day filled with dread, heart racing every time she thought she heard the front door opening. She’d tried reading to distract herself, but her eyes had scanned over the same sentence twenty times, and she still didn’t know what it said.

She couldn’t get Nicole’s pained expression out of her head. She’d do anything to go back and stop herself from following through with Wynonna’s plan if it meant that she could forget how Nicole had looked at her. If only she had a device that could let her travel through time. Ha.

How had she gone from kissing Nicole that morning to ruining everything? If she’d known it was going to be their first and last kiss, they would have never left the inn.

Wynonna had made herself scarce for the rest of the day, probably off somewhere with Doc. As much as Waverly wanted to pile all the blame onto her, she couldn’t. She had every chance to tell Wynonna no, but she didn’t.

She held her breath as she heard Nicole moving through the house towards the library. She had rehearsed an apology in her head all afternoon, and she ran through it once more before she would have to say it out loud.

The door flew open with unexpected force and Nicole strode inside the room, her hair looked windswept and she had rosy cheeks. Waverly’s stomach fell when she saw she still looked annoyed. She’d hoped being outside would have calmed her down, it was obvious to Waverly that Nicole felt most at peace when she had the sun on her skin, but it didn’t seem to have worked its magic today.

Of course, she couldn’t blame her, there was no doubt in Waverly’s mind that she deserved everything Nicole was about to throw at her. Her only hope was to try and apologise as much as possible before Nicole could start shouting at her again.

“Nicole?” she asked quietly.

Nicole ignored her and walked over to the table. The blue diary she had been writing in after the night at the bar was sat on top.

“Better not leave this out, someone might try and read it,” She said bitterly as she snatched it up into her hands, stuffed it into her jacket pocket and turned to leave.

“Nicole wait! Please, just let me apologise!” Waverly jumped off the couch and stumbled after her, jogging to keep up.

Waverly followed closely behind as she went down the steps into the garden. She almost bumped into Nicole’s back when she stopped abruptly on the grass.

“I gave you the chance to tell me the truth, and you lied to me.” Nicole’s voice was low.

“I didn’t… lie, I needed to… write something –“ Waverly spluttered.

“There are writing supplies on the desk in your room Waverly!” Nicole spun around to face her, a challenging glint in her eyes.

Ohhh shit balls. She’d walked right into that one.

“And even if there weren’t, I don’t understand why you didn’t just come and find me and _ask_ me. God Waverly, I would’ve given you anything you wanted!” Nicole threw her hands up into the air, “But instead, you think it’s appropriate to go through my room? Not to mention try and read my diary? I told you that they were just for me.”

Waverly didn’t know what to say. She didn’t know how to make this better. Maybe there was a way of telling her the truth without saying the _whole_ truth?

Nicole was stood with her arms folded, staring at Waverly expectedly, waiting for an explanation.

“Okay, okay. I didn’t need to write something down.”

Nicole scoffed.

“I am so so so sorry for lying to you, but I thought you’d get mad if I told you the truth…”

Nicole raised an eyebrow at her.

“Buuut that seems to have happened anyway… so I admit that was poor judgement on my part. Basically, the truth is,” Waverly took a deep breath, quickly working out in her head which bits of the story she was allowed to say, “that I thought that maybe you were with… someone else, and I felt guilty for kissing you. So, I thought that maybe you would have written something like that down…” Waverly trailed off, Nicole was frowning at her.

“You think… you think I’m a cheater?” Nicole took a step back, as if Waverly’s words had pushed her. How had she managed to make this situation _worse_? She had only listened to Wynonna because she cared so much about Nicole that she didn’t want to mess up her future with Winnipeg!

“No! I just, I don’t know what I was thinking!”

“Why didn’t you just ask me if I was seeing anyone else?”

“I did! But you didn’t exactly give me a definitive answer!”

“Oh, so this is all my fault now?” Nicole looked away from Waverly and into the night sky.

Waverly felt like she should just stop talking. She’d dug herself into such a deep hole that she might as well of lay down and let the ground swallow her up.

“Nicole. I know that saying sorry doesn’t even begin to make up for how badly I messed up. I will do anything you want, just tell me how to make it up to you? I will literally get down on my knees and-“

“Shh.”

Had Nicole just shushed her mid-apology? She stood open mouthed like a fish, unsure whether she should try and continue.

“Did you just shush me?”

Nicole was staring up at the sky and fumbling around in her jacket pocket for something.

“Just shhh for a second.”

She watched as Nicole pulled out a piece of paper and unfurled it.

“That’s it!” Nicole muttered to herself, looking rapidly up and down between the paper and the sky.

Without warning, she turned around and walked off towards the stream.

Waverly didn’t really know what was going on. Was their argument over? Was she meant to follow her? She decided that she wasn’t going to give up that easily. Nicole was going to forgive her. She had to. She didn’t want to think about the alternative.

She had to run to make sure she didn’t lose sight of Nicole in the dark. She picked up the heavy skirt of her dress to stop herself from tripping over, cursing at how much easier this would all be if she still had Nicole’s trousers.

She saw Nicole hop over the stream and duck under a low hanging branch.

“Nicole wait!” Waverly called, breathing heavily. She really needed to work out more.

When Waverly reached the edge of the water she stopped, looking for the stepping-stones Nicole had used. Once she ducked under the branch, she found that Nicole was waiting for her.

“Nicole what is going on?” She panted.

Nicole twisted her mouth from side to side, as if she was deciding whether to talk to Waverly or not.

“Okay. This is _not_ me forgiving you. I am still _very_ mad. But I think I’ve worked out the clue.”

Waverly raised her eyebrows in surprise. She’d almost forgotten about the note they’d received that morning. She’d been so preoccupied with the kiss and then Wynonna’s terrible plan, and then the shit storm that had followed that she could hardly even remember what the clue had said. Something like water and love or…

“I’d completely forgotten about that,” she admitted.

Nicole turned and began to walk again, thankfully at a slower pace that Waverly didn’t have to run to keep up with.

“You’d think that you’d be a little more interested in it, seeing as you can’t go home without solving it,” she said flatly.

Home was the last place Waverly wanted to go, but she knew Nicole was right. The longer she stayed here, the greater the likelihood that she was going to do something to jeopardise Nicole’s future. She’d put all her focus on finding the devices from now on, seeing as things with Nicole seemed to be on pause anyway. Or stopped indefinitely.

“Well now it’s got my full attention, do you want to explain where we’re going?”

Waverly thought she saw the tiniest smile playing on Nicole’s lips. She looked at Waverly as she walked and she had that excited look in her eyes that she got when she was talking about medicine, or astronomy, or just a really good book.

“Okay, so, the first line: ‘ _When water meets woman and the hunter is born’_ I think that’s referring to some kind of mythology, Greek maybe? A woman can’t have a child with water, that’d be nonsense. But what if water was a person? Like a god?”

Waverly’s brain whirred into action. A god of water…

“Poseidon?” She asked.

“Exactly. Then I thought, well Poseidon had a lot of sons, all of which were probably hunters of some kind, not entirely helpful. But, the note said _the_ hunter, implying that that’s what he was famous for.”

Waverly couldn’t see where this was going. How did her bag have something to do with a mythological demigod?

“How exactly does this help?” She tried not to sound too skeptical, Nicole was obviously proud of herself for working it out and the last thing she wanted to do was add to the list of reasons why she was mad at her.

“When I looked up at the stars, it hit me. Orion! And it fits with the next line ‘ _follow his belt to the heart which is torn.’_ Orion’s belt is one of the most noticeable features of the constellation. There are three bright stars in a diagonal line,” Nicole lifted a finger into the air in front of her and tapped three times to demonstrate the pattern. “The clue tells us to follow his belt, so right now we’re walking in the direction that they point in.”

Waverly had to admit, she was impressed. There was no way she would have worked that out, let alone in the space of about two minutes like Nicole had.

“Is there anything at the end of this lane?” Waverly asked. She didn’t really want to be walking indefinitely into the night.

Nicole’s expression darkened slightly. She tried to hide it by rubbing her hand over her mouth, but Waverly had seen it.

Just as she thought Nicole had gone back to ignoring her, the lane opened up to the driveway of a grand house. They both stopped and stared up at it, all the windows dark.

“An old… friend used to live here. Miss Shae Pressman.” Nicole’s voice cracked slightly when she said the name.

Waverly cast her mind back to Nicole’s diary, if she remembered correctly, Shae had been Nicole’s first serious relationship, until she’d left her to get married to some General Richard John, or John Richard. Of course! That was what the second part was about. ‘ _The heart which is torn_ ’ referred to Nicole’s heartbreak.

Waverly knew better than to bring that part up, Nicole was still mad at her after all. But the house looked huge; they could be searching for the bag all night, and she really didn’t want a repeat of what had happened the last time they’d broken into a house to look for it.

“How are we going to find it?”

Nicole ran her finger over the note again, reading the second section.

“Well the second part ‘ _the next clue that you seek is where young love once grew’_ could be anywhere around here,” Nicole cleared her throat nervously, “I um kind of had a thing with the woman who lived here for a while.”

Waverly tried to act surprised.

“Oh, cool.” She smiled supportively at Nicole, hoping she could see that it didn’t matter to her. So, what they were looking for was definitely here, they just needed to work out the final part. “What was the bit before that?”

“ _Where all energy points and becomes something new.”_ Nicole responded.

Waverly clicked her tongue as she looked around. Her eyes moved over the building, a large stone wall, a flower bed, some statues. Wait a second. Her eyes flicked back to the flowers. Where all energy points and becomes something new… that could refer to flowers right? Photosynthesis maybe?

“Is there like a big garden or something? Somewhere the two of you would go… together?”

Realisation dawned on Nicole’s face and she nodded.

“Yes,” she said breathily.

“Great! Do you want to show me where?”

Nicole suddenly looked pale. Her chest rising and falling more quickly than it had been two seconds ago.

“Hey are you okay?” She asked, reaching a hand towards Nicole. Before she could make contact, Nicole turned and started walking back down the lane.

“I think it’s best if we come back tomorrow, in the daylight.” She said as she walked away.

“Sure, whatever you want,” Waverly said quietly to herself as she watched Nicole walking away from her, more confused than ever.

==========

Waverly yawned. There was a faint humming sound coming from somewhere in her room and she frowned, it sounded vaguely like the chorus of Dancing Queen. Sleepily opening her eyes, she rolled over on the bed and yelped in surprise. Wynonna was lying on her side watching her, propped up on her elbow. At least she’d located the source of the humming.

“Good morning sunshine!” Wynonna chirped.

“Christ Wynonna!”

“Sorry, did I wake you?” She smirked.

Waverly put a hand on her chest, she could feel her heart thudding underneath.

“What do you want?” She groaned, dropping back down into her pillow.

“What, a girl can’t just stare at her baby sister as she sleeps?” Wynonna pinched Waverly’s arm playfully.

“Wynonna, just ask me whatever you want to ask me and then go away so I can go back to sleep.” She mumbled into her pillow. Waverly had hardly slept a wink. A million thoughts had just kept bouncing around inside her head, most of them involving Nicole.

“Okay, so I wanted to plan something nice for Doc, but you know I suck at the whole organising thing, so I thought you could do it for me?”

Waverly stared at Wynonna as if she’d just spoken a foreign language.

“Fine. I thought you could _help_ me do it, better?

“You… want to plan something _nice_ … for Doc?”

“Why are you so shocked?”

“Because… this is _you_ ,” Waverly waved her hand up and down at Wynonna, “I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but what happened to the ‘hump and dump’?” she wrinkled her nose as she said the phrase.

“So first you give me shit for saying I’m going to hump and dump, and now you’re giving me shit for because I’m not going to hump and dump?”

“Can we please stop saying hump and dump!” Waverly begged. “I’m not giving you shit, I’m just… confused…”

Wynonna sat up and crossed her legs on the bed, playing with the frayed edge of a blanket.

“Are you going to help me or not?”

“Have you even apologised to Nicole yet?”

“Yep, first thing this morning.”

Waverly sighed, the likelihood of her getting back to sleep now was zero.

“Ugh fine, what did you have in mind?”

==========

Waverly mentally prepared herself before knocking on Nicole’s bedroom door. They had hardly spoken a word to each other on the walk home from Shae’s house and Waverly knew that she still hadn’t been forgiven yet.

“Hang on a second,” Nicole called from the other side.

Waverly could hear a chair scraping across the floor, some papers rustling and what sounded like the lid of the heavy trunk closing. Waverly shifted her weight nervously.

“Come in!”

“Hi,” Waverly’s mouth was dry from nerves.

Nicole shot her a tight-lipped smile from her seat at the desk.

“Hello.”

Yep, Nicole definitely hadn’t magically forgiven her overnight.

“Um so Wynonna is planning a little something for Doc… and I was wondering if you had any candles that she could borrow?”

“Oh, so you’ve learnt how to ask me for things now?” Nicole sassed.

Ouch. Waverly knew she deserved that, but it didn’t stop it from stinging any less.

“Nicole I’m sor-“

“Don’t apologise,” Nicole sighed. “That was harsh. I know. I know you’re sorry, I just need some time to… process.”

Waverly chewed her lip. She felt a sudden urge to just surge forwards and kiss her, but somehow she didn’t think that would help the situation. She cleared her throat instead to try and remove the thought from her mind.

“Okay,” She said in a small voice.

“So, what exactly is Wynonna doing for Doc? Something nice I hope, what with the candles and all.”

Waverly perched herself on the edge of Nicole’s bed.

“Either that or she wants to set him on fire,” Waverly teased.

Nicole laughed and the sound was like music to Waverly’s ears. She hadn’t realised how much she’d missed hearing it.

“I think she’s trying to… romance him…” Waverly scrunched up her nose, she was still in disbelief.

Nicole was obviously as surprised as she was.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but your sister doesn’t quite strike me as the romantic type.”

“You would be correct,” Waverly grinned.

Nicole looked as though she was about to return it, but stopped herself at the last moment. She covered it with a cough and looked out the window instead.

“Just tell me we don’t have to be here whilst she’s doing… whatever it is she’s doing?”

Waverly knew from experience that she definitely did not want to be in the house when Wynonna was on her date. There was somewhere her and Nicole could go, but she didn’t think Nicole was going to be too enthusiastic about it.

“We could go to um… Shae’s house to investigate the clue?”

Waverly was expecting Nicole to veto that idea, seeing as she’d basically had a panic attack when they had been there last night, but instead she nodded.

“Good idea. The sooner we solve it the sooner you can go home,” She said matter-of-factly.

Waverly grimaced. Nicole wanted her gone, and obviously she wasn’t afraid to say it.

==========

The walk to Shae’s house had been just as Waverly knew it would be, awkward. She craved the easy conversations they’d had over the past couple of weeks, anything other than the painful small talk they were having now.

As the house came into view, Nicole repeatedly clenched and unclenched her fists. Waverly wondered if she even knew she was doing it.

“There’s no entrance to the garden without going through the house, so we’re going to have to ring the bell,” Nicole stated.

Waverly hadn’t realised that someone still lived there.

“I thought Shae… um, moved away?” She tried to choose her words carefully.

“Oh, yeah, Shae doesn’t live here anymore, just her Aunt and Uncle.”

“Oh,” was all Waverly could think to say.

They climbed the front steps and Nicole rung the bell hanging outside the door. Waverly glanced at Nicole and saw her chewing her lip nervously. Before she could think better of it, she reached out and squeezed Nicole’s hand. Nicole’s eyes widened slightly as she stared at the front door, but she felt a weak squeeze in return.

Just then the front door opened and a tall, beautiful woman in the most elegant grey dress Waverly had ever seen was stood there, a look of confusion on her face. Nicole dropped Waverly’s hand as if it was burning her.

“Nicole?”

Nicole looked like she was going to pass out.

“Shae?”

==========

Waverly, Nicole and Shae were all sat in Shae’s drawing room in uncomfortable silence, three untouched cups of tea on the table. They’d gone through all the usual pleasantries, like ‘who are you?’, ‘how do you know Nicole?’, ‘why are you here?’ And then the conversation had just fizzled out. Waverly usually loved any excuse for a catch up, but this was torturous.

She was stuck in a room with a woman she knew quite well but had to pretend she didn’t know at all, and Nicole, who had hardly said two words to either of them since she’d walked through the front door. She could have cut the tension with a knife.

Waverly had felt an instant dislike for Shae. She had left Nicole to get married without even saying goodbye. She’d led her to believe they had something special and then thrown it back in her face. Waverly couldn’t understand how a person could do that to someone like Nicole, who was so loving and loyal.

Although, wasn’t she going to do the same thing? Leave Nicole?

No. It wasn’t the same. Her situation was much more complicated. Waverly knew that Nicole was going to find love after she left, Shae hadn’t known.

“Waverly?”

Waverly blinked, she’d been so wrapped up in her thoughts that she hadn’t realised someone had actually started talking.

“Hmm sorry?” She looked between Shae and Nicole, unsure which of them had spoken.

Shae smiled sweetly at her.

“I said, I’m happy for you to go and look in the garden for yourself, but I can’t imagine what you’re looking for is there.”

Waverly sighed in relief, her and Nicole finally had an excuse to leave this painful situation. She jumped up enthusiastically and looked at Nicole, expecting her to join her. She must have been hating this a hundred times more than Waverly was.

Nicole remained unmoving in her chair, staring glassy eyed at Shae.

“Nicole, are you coming?” she asked, suddenly uncertain.

Nicole looked at her for the first time since they had sat down. She shook her head.

“I uh… how about you go ahead? I need to… um…” she gestured towards Shae.

Of course. Nicole would want to talk to Shae alone. Waverly suddenly felt embarrassed, they’d probably just sat in silence because Waverly had been there.

“Oh of course, yes sure, um if I find anything, I’ll let you know?”

“Just go out through the back and head down the path on the left, there’s a little hut hidden amongst the trees. That’s where me and Nicole spent most of our time, right sweetie?” Shae said in a sickly tone.

Waverly’s nostrils flared when she heard Shae being affectionate towards Nicole. What gave her the right? She was married for god’s sake. Waverly had to remind herself to calm down, it wasn’t her place to get angry on Nicole’s behalf. She waited for Nicole to say something, but she didn’t.

“Okay.” Waverly turned and left the room, trying to ignore the jealousy that was flaring up inside her.

=========

“Stupid, sexy, lady, who does she think she is coming back here?” Waverly grumbled to herself and she made her way through the garden.

Just thinking of her and Nicole alone together in the same room made her jealous.

“Jesus Waverly get a grip.” She had to remind herself that she had no right to be jealous. Nicole and Shae had had much more together than Waverly and Nicole had, plus, it wasn’t like Nicole was too fond of Waverly right now.

She kept her eyes peeled as she walked down the path for anything that resembled a building.

She had to admit the garden was gorgeous, and it smelled absolutely amazing. She let the scent fill her nostrils and calm her down. She needed to keep her focus, find the bag. As she entered a wooded area of the garden, she spotted a flash of white hidden behind a large sloping mound of earth. That must be the hut she had read about in Nicole’s diary.

As she rounded the corner, Waverly’s breath caught in her throat. In front of her was a small circular stone building that looked like it belonged in a fairytale, it even had a thatched roof.

Waverly reached out her fingers to brush the door handle and twisted it, praying that it wasn’t locked. She really didn’t want to go back to the drawing room empty handed. The door clicked and slowly swung open.

It was like she’d died and gone to heaven.

There were blankets _everywhere_ , a fireplace and a well-stocked bookshelf. What more could a girl want? Waverly could picture herself and Nicole in there, perhaps wrapped in a blanket together by the fire, Nicole reading aloud from her favourite book. She grinned at the thought of it.

But Nicole had probably already done that many many times, with Shae. She wasn’t here to fantasize about Nicole, she was here to find her bag. The trouble was, there weren’t exactly many hiding places in the room.

A sheet of paper tacked to the mantel over the fire caught her attention.

Stepping over to it, she plucked it off and unfolded it. It was written in the same script as the other two notes they’d received.

_SO YOU’VE MADE IT THIS FAR, WELL DONE, I’M IMPRESSED, TO FIND WHAT YOU DESIRE YOU MUST NOW DRESS YOUR BEST._

_DON YOUR FINEST CLOTH, HEAD TO THE BARTON’S AND DANCE THE NIGHT AWAY._

_THE OBJECT YOU SEEK WILL WAIT FOR YOU IN SANDS BETWEEN TWO BAYS._

\- _A FRIEND_

 _  
_ Waverly closed her eyes, trying to get ahold of her emotions. Her bag wasn’t here. They were being sent on yet another wild goose chase. At least this time the note seemed to actually say that what they were looking for would be there. They just had to work out where ‘there’ was.

She didn’t know whether to be annoyed or extremely thankful. Whoever this mystery friend was, they were obviously messing with them. But they had also just bought Waverly at least a few more days with Nicole. She had a chance to make it right between them.

With one last look around the hut, she closed the door behind her and made her way back up to the house.

==========

Waverly was just about to re-enter the drawing room when she heard laughter from inside. She paused, unsure whether she wanted to know what was going on.

“I can’t believe you just said that!”

That must have been Nicole speaking. Waverly turned her ear to the door, straining to hear Shae’s response.

“I’m telling you the truth!” Shae laughed.

“You haven’t changed a bit have you?”

“Luckily for you…”

Waverly couldn’t listen to any more, she pushed her way into the room, trying to act like she hadn’t just been stood outside the door for a minute.

Nicole looked slightly shocked by Waverly’s sudden entrance. Her and Shae had moved from around the table onto the couch. Nicole was sat pushed up against one end, and Shae was sat on the other side. They weren’t touching, but Shae had her arm draped suggestively along the back of the couch.

“Did you find something?” Shae asked. She had a slightly condescending tone to her voice, as if she was talking to a child.

Waverly’s mind scrambled as she tried to remember what she had come in to tell them. She clenched her fist and felt the piece of paper there.

“I found something in the hut, another note. I’ll read it to you on the walk home?” She suggested hopefully to Nicole.

Nicole licked her lips nervously, looking slightly sheepish.

“Oh, I um, I think I’m going to stay here Waves.”

“But you feel free to go!” Shae chimed in.

Oh. Waverly suddenly understood. She’d thought that Nicole had been uncomfortable because of Shae, but maybe it was _her_ that made Nicole uncomfortable? She wanted to start things back up again with Shae? No, that was stupid, Nicole wouldn’t put herself through all that again with her… would she? She probably just wanted to talk some more. Probably.

Waverly felt her emotions go into overdrive, she wanted to laugh and cry and scream all at once. She had to get out of there. Now.

“Oh sure, sorry, I um, okay, yep, I’ll see you later Nicole. Have, um, fun!” She didn’t even know what she was saying, the words just kept tumbling out of her mouth.

She spun around quickly to leave the room, catching her hip on the edge of the table. She cursed as she pushed her way through the door and heard Shae murmur behind her.

“Is she always so… weird?”

Waverly didn’t stick around long enough to hear Nicole’s response.

==========

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to my good ol' beta @Earperfamily who helped me sort my shit out for this chapter - MAJOR block happened near the beginning.  
> As always, any comments and/or kudos are very much appreciated and I can't thank you all enough for coming back week after week to find out what the hell happens in this crazy story! 
> 
> Now, I know I've written Shae as not a very nice person here... And I fully appreciate in the show she is actually lovely and saves Nicole's life. This character was more influenced by characters in Gentleman Jack but for the sake of this fic I thought it would be better to use names we already know from Wearp rather than introducing OCs... 
> 
> ANYWAY this feels like a two update kind of week so pop back on Friday to see if they'll ever sort themselves out again, or if that kiss at the inn really was their first and last...


	9. Future Schmuture

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised, here is chapter 9! Will Waverly and Nicole finally sort their shit out? Only one way to find out...

Even when Waverly had caught Champ kissing someone else at her own birthday party last year, she hadn’t felt jealousy as all-consuming as this. Nicole and stupid Shae were probably having hot, stupid sex right now all over her stupid drawing room.

Waverly knew she had feelings for Nicole, strong feelings, but she hadn’t realised until now how badly she _wanted_ her. She wanted more than anything to have Nicole kiss her again, to touch her, to…

No. She was only torturing herself even considering the possibility.

Waverly couldn’t believe what a mess the whole situation had become, if she wasn’t living in it, it would almost be comical. She tried to sort through her feelings as she walked back to Nicole’s house alone, running through a recap in her mind.

Nicole was perfect for Waverly, but she was destined for somebody else: Winnipeg Edison. Waverly knew this because she had translated Nicole’s diary, 200 years in the future from now. She’d tried to control herself, but she’d still ended up kissing Nicole anyway, and by some miracle Nicole had kissed her back. She’d then read Nicole’s diary again to try and protect her future, but it had all backfired and now Nicole was off having fun with her ex. All of which was taking place whilst they were trying to solve some clues left for them by some mystery ‘friend’.

It was like some strange Netflix movie.

Waverly felt exhausted: emotionally and physically. Her lack of sleep from the night before was already catching up with her, and it wasn’t even noon. As the house came into view she yawned and decided that she didn’t have the energy for anything other than a nap.

Waverly climbed the front steps and made her way into the house. She heard Wynonna laughing from somewhere inside and went to investigate. She’d probably love to hear all about Nicole’s ex-girlfriend. Waverly pinpointed the sound to the library and made her way inside, talking openly to the room.

“You will not believe- arghhh oh my god Wynonna!“

“Jeez Waves ever heard of knocking?”

Waverly had been so preoccupied with her Nicole situation that she’d completely forgotten about Wynonna and Doc’s date.

They were both shirtless on the couch, limbs tangled together. Doc’s eyes were wide and his cheeks were red as he frantically tried to get up and reach for his vest, but Wynonna put a hand on his chest to keep him down.

The sight just reminded her of what Nicole and Shae were probably up to right now.

“God am I the only one _not_ having sex right now?!” She shouted in exasperation as she covered her eyes.

She knew she shouldn’t be mad at Doc and Wynonna, but it had been the last thing she needed to see in that moment. She heard Wynonna calling her name as she ran up the stairs, but didn’t turn back.

Once in her room, she took off her dress and pulled her nightgown back over her head. She would kill for her favourite pair of sweatpants right now, they were perfect for sulking in bed with a tub of ice cream and a movie, not that she could have those things either.

She flopped down onto the bed face first and wriggled underneath the duvet as best as she could, letting the weight of it settle over her.

There was a quiet knock at her door which she ignored, the last thing she wanted to hear were Wynonna’s sex jokes. When she heard it again, she took her face out the pillow.

“I don’t feel like talking right now Wynonna!” She called, before dropping her head back down.

“Too bad baby girl because I’m coming in anyway.”

“Why did you even bother knocking?” She grumbled into the pillow.

Waverly felt the duvet lift slightly and Wynonna climbing into the space next to her on the bed.

“Did something happen with Nicole?” Wynonna asked sympathetically.

“You could say that,” she replied quietly, turning onto her side so she could face her sister. Wynonna reached forwards and tucked a stray piece of her hair behind her ear.

“Where is she now?”

“With… Shae, her ex.” Waverly found it strangely difficult to say her name out loud.

Wynonna’s eyes widened in shock.

“She’s with her ex??”

“Yep! And they were both laughing together and having fun together and-“

“Waverly, Nicole may be a lot of things, but she is definitely not stupid. Why would she go back to her ex after she left her for a dude? I think we both know Nicole doesn’t forgive people very easily.”

“Hey, you _do_ listen to me when I talk about work!”

Wynonna rolled her eyes playfully.

“My point is, I don’t think Nicole would just jump back in like nothing ever happened. Doc told me that she didn’t leave her bed for like a week after Shae left. Maybe they’re just talking?”

Waverly let the words sink in. Perhaps she had overreacted a little bit, jumping to conclusions. After all she hadn’t seen them doing anything, she’d only heard a tiny part of their conversation, they could have been talking about anything.

Waverly sighed.

“I don’t know why I’m getting so worked up about this.”

“Because you like her, dummy. A lot.”

Waverly felt herself blushing and ran a hand nervously through her hair.

“She likes you too you know.”

She raised an eyebrow at her sister.

“You don’t know that.”

“Oh she definitely likes you, it’s obvious to anyone with eyes Waverly,” Wynonna teased.

Waverly didn’t want to let herself believe it. It also didn’t change the fact that it didn’t matter, her leaving was inevitable.

“So, are you going to do something about it?” she continued.

“What’s the point,” she whispered, “We’re leaving soon.”

“Why should that matter?”

Waverly scoffed.

“How can it _not_ matter?”

“If you never do anything because you’re scared of how you’ll feel when it’s over, then you’re not really living. Wouldn’t it be better to enjoy it whilst you can and to keep those memories with you, than to have never experienced it at all?”

Waverly frowned. She had never really thought of it that way. She’d been so focused on trying to protect Nicole’s future and her own feelings and dwelling on the fact that their relationship would have an expiry date, that she hadn’t considered just embracing what she had with Nicole and then accepting it as an experience that she could cherish forever once she was gone.

“What happened to not changing the future?”

“Ah future schmuture.” Wynonna tapped the end of Waverly’s nose and grinned.

“You think I should give whatever we have a chance? Even though we know it can’t go anywhere?”

“I think if you don’t, you will spend the rest of your life regretting it.” Wynonna smiled with a faraway look in her eyes. Waverly realised they weren’t just talking about her and Nicole anymore.

“Is that how you feel about Doc?”

“Waves, I don’t know. There’s just something about him.”

Waverly smiled knowingly, Wynonna definitely liked him more than she was admitting.

“I’m sorry about earlier by the way, we weren’t expecting you guys back so soon.”

“It’s a good thing Nicole wasn’t with me, she probably would’ve killed you both for screwing in front of her books,” she winked.

“Waves, how have we only been here a couple weeks?” Wynonna looked slightly panicked. Waverly fumbled for her hand under the duvet and laced their fingers together.

Waverly couldn’t believe it either. Without phones, computers, TVs, cars, time seemed to move much more slowly. She had to admit, she wasn’t entirely opposed to their new lifestyle. If you had asked her a month ago if she could live without technology she would have said no, but apparently, she was hardly missing it. She suspected Nicole had something to do with that.

“Apparently, time _doesn’t_ fly when you’re having fun.”

Wynonna smirked before standing from the bed and stretching.

“Right, now you’re sorted I can get back to my date.” She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

“What do you think I should do about Nicole?”

“Just _talk_ to her, Waverly.” Before she could leave the room, Waverly called out to her.

“When did you get so wise?”

“Guess time travel does have some benefits.”

She grinned at her before ducking out the door.

===========

After her talk with Wynonna, Waverly had felt excited for Nicole’s return. Maybe they could actually sort this out together, hash it out, get all their thoughts and feelings out on the table. But when it got to 10pm and there was still no sign of her, all her insecurities came rushing back. Why would Nicole still be at Shae’s if they _weren’t_ getting it on? She tried to remember what Wynonna had told her, but it was getting harder and harder to believe it.

It hadn’t helped that Wynonna and Doc had been inseparable all afternoon. They were acting very cute and comfortable together, and it made Waverly jealous. She wanted Nicole to be wrapping her arms around _her_ , whispering in _her_ ear and making _her_ giggle.

It was somewhat unsettling to see Wynonna so comfortable with someone she liked. Usually she played hard to get and ended up self-sabotaging, but it seemed Wynonna was actually listening to her own advice for once.

They’d asked Waverly if she wanted to come along to the bar for a drink, but she hadn’t been in the mood for third wheeling. At 11pm, she gave up hope that Nicole would be reappearing any time soon. She closed her book and blew out the candle next to her bed, praying that sleep would take her sooner rather than later.

=========

THUMP.

“Owhh shit”

Waverly woke suddenly. There was someone in her room. Someone who had apparently just bumped into something.

Her room was pitch black; it was still the middle of the night.

“Wynonna?” She called nervously as she fumbled around next to her bed for some matches.

“Waverly?” The voice sounded drunken and confused, but it didn’t belong to Wynonna.

Waverly’s fingers closed around the box and she quickly struck a match. She lit the candle and held it up in front of her.

Nicole was stood by the dresser, swaying slightly as she rubbed her hip. She was wearing her trousers and a shirt which had the top buttons open and the sleeves messily rolled to different lengths.

Nicole squinted into the light.

“Waves, why are you in my room?” Her words sounded slightly slurred.

“Nic, this is _my_ room. Have you been drinking?”

Nicole shot her a goofy grin “Shhh don’t tell anyone. Oh and Doc told me to do something,” she tapped her forehead, “Something about… forgiving you.”

Nicole was forgiving her? Or at least drunk Nicole was.

“What?”

“I forgive you Waves. God I tried to keep it up but I don’t want to push you away anymore. _I can’t_.”

She stumbled her way over to the bed and jumped onto it, causing Waverly to bounce off her pillow.

“Hey!” She complained. She tried not to think too much about the fact Nicole was in her bed. “What happened to you? I thought you were with Shae?” She hoped the jealousy in her voice wasn’t too obvious.

“I left Shae’s hooouuuurs ago! I couldn’t stand being around her any longer.” Nicole scrunched her face.

Hang on. What?

“You mean you and Shae… didn’t…. you looked like you were having a good time?”

“Ugh, a good time telling her off more like. She came back saying she still loved me. HA.” Nicole rolled so she was lying on her side facing Waverly. “I told her exactly what I thought about that.”

Waverly frowned. Wynonna had been right? She must be dreaming.

“Why didn’t you come back sooner?” Waverly whispered.

“I went to the bar. Seeing her again… I just… it felt like she was dragging me back into that dark place… and I needed to forget it.” Nicole’s voice cracked and it sounded like she was on the verge of tears. Waverly reached out her hand and rubbed Nicoles cheek gently with her thumb.

“Hey, shhh, it’s okay. You don’t have to see her again… if you don’t want to.”

Nicole, caught her hand on her cheek and held it there in her own. Waverly’s breathing shallowed, she’d forgotten how soft Nicole’s skin was.

“I’ve been so stupid Waves. Shae wasn’t this perfect person, I just got all muddled up because I thought I’d finally found someone who I could keep for myself.” Nicole squeezed Waverly’s hand, “I don’t want to see her again.”

Nicole leaned in towards Waverly, eyes flicking down to her lips.

“Nicole,” Waverly cautioned.

She wanted nothing more than to kiss Nicole, but she had just spent the day with Shae, she was drunk, and they still needed to make sure they were on the same page about where this was all going.

Nicole pulled back, looking slightly hurt.

“But I forgave you,” she said in a small voice.

Waverly almost jumped her there and then. She took Nicole’s hand in her own and kissed the back of it gently.

Nicole’s eyes fluttered closed.

“And I am so grateful for that. But I don’t think that doing _that_ would be a good idea right now.” Waverly couldn’t believe what she was saying. Here Nicole was, wanting to kiss her, and she was being the voice of reason.

“You stay here Nic, I’m going to go sleep downstairs.”

Waverly tried to get up, but felt Nicole tug on her wrist.

“What, why?”

“Because you’re drunk, and you probably won’t remember any of this in the morning.” Waverly gestured between the two of them.

Nicole looked up at her from the bed, her hair ruffled and her eyes big and pleading.

“Please stay. For me.”

Waverly stared at her, fighting an internal battle as to whether she should stay or go. Nicole looked so adorable and sad that her arguments for leaving faded away into nothing.

She sighed and climbed back into the bed. Nicole grinned so widely that Waverly couldn’t even see her eyes.

“No funny business,” Waverly warned playfully.

“I’ll try my best,” Nicole replied through a yawn; she looked exhausted.

Waverly went to respond, but Nicole’s eyes were already closed, her mouth relaxed and slightly open.

She smiled to herself and blew out the candle.

Maybe, just maybe, things would be okay after all.

==========

Waverly could feel her pillow moving slowly up and down underneath her head. She breathed in and the smell of vanilla was overwhelming.

Waverly tensed as she realised where she was. She opened one of her eyes to analyse the situation; her head was resting on Nicole’s chest and one of her arms was draped over her stomach with a fist full of her shirt. Obviously when Waverly was asleep all restraint went out the window.

If she moved really slowly, maybe Nicole wouldn’t wake up and she could pretend that this never happened. She lifted her head and started to shift backwards but felt an arm tense around her shoulders.

“Don’t you dare move Waverly Edison,” Nicole murmured sleepily.

Waverly looked up at her face, Nicole’s eyes were closed but she was smiling. There was a warm morning sun shining through a gap in the curtains which fell over her face; her skin looked like it was glowing.

“How long have you been awake?” Waverly questioned.

Nicole lazily opened her eyes and looked down at Waverly.

“Long enough,” she smirked, squeezing Waverly’s shoulders.

“Are you still drunk?” Waverly asked suspiciously. Nicole’s sudden change in attitude towards her was nothing short of confusing.

Nicole laughed.

“No! I didn’t drink _that_ much!”

“You walked into my dresser!” She teased.

“It was dark!” Nicole turned on her side and snaked an arm around Waverly’s waist, pulling her closer.

She tickled her fingers over the skin on her stomach, making Waverly giggle. She had to remind herself that they still hadn’t talked properly yet.

“Nicole, what are we doing? I’m… leaving.” Waverly wrinkled her forehead in confusion.

Nicole leant her forehead against hers, so their noses were almost touching.

“I know. But maybe we should just stop focusing on that. Wouldn’t it be better to just enjoy it for the short time that we can and have those memories, than to have not done anything at all and live the rest of our lives regretting it?”

Waverly narrowed her eyes. That sounded like the exact same thing Wynonna had said to her yesterday.

“Have you been talking to Wynonna?”

“She may have mentioned something along those lines,” Nicole admitted, “but to be honest I was already making my way to that conclusion on my own, she just gave me an extra push.”

Waverly’s mind wondered back to the last time Wynonna and Nicole had been drunk together.

“She didn’t slap you again did she?” Waverly teased.

“Thankfully no,” Nicole grinned back at her.

Waverly swallowed thickly, were they finally on the same page? It felt like someone set a fire in her stomach as she thought about what this meant. She could kiss Nicole again. Finally.

Waverly wetted her lips and closed the small gap between them.

Wynonna could have walked in singing ‘Mmm Bop’ at the top of her lungs whilst juggling knives and Waverly wouldn’t have noticed. She wouldn’t have cared.

Kissing Nicole was all-consuming. She couldn’t think about anything else other than the way Nicole’s lips were moving desperately against her own and her hands were moving over her skin. She let her own hands wander, and felt Nicole groan against her mouth when she pushed her fingers under her shirt to touch the skin there.

So this is what kissing felt like when you actually liked the person. She couldn’t help but smile against Nicole’s mouth.

Nicole pulled away slightly, planting a small kiss on the corner of Waverly’s lips before putting her head down on the pillow and looking up at Waverly.

“Now why did I waste time shouting at Shae when I could’ve been doing that?”

Waverly laced their fingers together and snuggled down into the crook of Nicole’s arm.

“You weren’t shouting at her before I walked in.”

“That’s because she had just told me that her heart was torn between me and her husband, and that she’d be willing to start things up again with me in secret. I was too busy trying to comprehend how stupid she thought I was to shout at her. The shouting started pretty soon after you left though… she called you weird.”

“Wait what did you say?”

Nicole looked confused.

“She… called you weird?”

“No, not that bit, the bit about her heart?”

“Her heart was torn?”

Waverly had assumed the clue had been referring to Nicole: that her heart was torn between Shae and Waverly. But it had been Shae’s heart, torn between Nicole and her husband.

She sat up in the bed, excited by her discovery.

“The clue told us to ‘follow the belt to the heart which is torn’, it was talking about Shae!”

Realisation dawned on Nicole’s face, closely followed by more confusion.

“Seriously Waves, who is writing these clues? How do they know all these details? It’s starting to freak me out.”

Waverly had started to wonder the same thing. Whoever was writing them definitely seemed to have some inside knowledge. She realised that she hadn’t had a chance to show Nicole the third note yet.

“Well apparently there’s some more stuff that they know, they left us another clue.”

Waverly untangled herself from Nicole and reached over to the desk, picking up the paper she had thrown there dismissively the previous day.

Nicole smoothed a hand over Waverly’s hair as she lay back down beside her.

“Can you read it to me?” Nicole closed her eyes as she started to idly draw patterns on Waverly’s arm. Waverly stretched her neck so she could plant a soft kiss on Nicole’s cheek before focusing on the page.

“Okay here goes, _‘_ So you’ve made it this far, well done, I’m impressed, to find what you desire you must now dress your best. Don your finest cloth, head to the Barton’s and dance the night away. The object you seek will wait for you in sands between two bays.’ And then it just says ‘A friend’ at the bottom like the other two did.”

“The Barton’s?”

“That’s what it says,” Waverly confirmed, re-reading the line.

“Let me get up a second, I need to go check something.”

Waverly was too warm and comfortable to move. Instead of letting Nicole move out from under her, she wrapped her arms and legs around her like a koala hugging a tree, and squeezed.

“Whatever it is can wait,” Waverly mumbled into Nicole’s shirt.

Somehow Nicole managed to stand up anyway, with Waverly hanging off of her, laughing.

Her laughter died in her throat however, when Nicole pushed Waverly’s back up against the wall and kissed her neck. The sudden pressure between her legs from Nicole’s hips made her gasp.

Nicole kissed up her throat and to the base of her jaw, breathing hotly on her ear.

“I will be right back,” she whispered, before unhooking Waverly’s legs and arms from around her and sprinting from the room.

Waverly’s legs felt slightly shaky as she stood leaning against the wall, breathing heavily. She would really need to get a grip, Nicole had hardly even touched her.

Her heart raced at the thought of Nicole _really_ touching her.

Nicole ran back into the room waving two envelopes at her and grinning. She stopped in front of Waverly, bent down and looped her arms around Waverly’s thighs. She squealed as Nicole briefly lifted her into a fireman’s carry and dropped her back onto the bed.

“Doc and I got sent these invitations months ago, the Barton’s annual Ball is the social event of the year for the county.” Nicole glanced down at the invites, “It’s happening in two weeks and we can each bring a guest…” She looked back at Waverly, suddenly looking nervous. “Will you be mine?”

Waverly stroked her chin, pretending to think about her answer.

“As if I could say no to you.” She leaned forwards and grabbed Nicole’s shirt, dragging her back onto the bed.

==========

Waverly planted soft kisses along Nicole’s jawline to the base of her ear. She still had her eyes closed, but Waverly was sure she was awake. She brushed her tongue lightly over her pulse point before closing her mouth over the spot and sucking gently.

Nicole hummed. If she hadn’t been awake before, she definitely was now.

“I knew I stayed in here last night for a reason,” she said sleepily, wrapping both arms around Waverly so they were face to face.

“Oh yeah?” Waverly teased, before hooking one of her legs over Nicole’s under the covers.

“Mmmm”

Nicole leaned forwards and captured Waverly’s lips. This had become somewhat of a morning routine since they’d finally decided to throw caution to the wind three days ago. She had slept better these past few nights in Nicole’s arms than she ever had at home. She was already dreading having to go back to an empty bed.

Waverly scolded herself for thinking about leaving again. They’d both agreed not to, even if that wasn’t exactly the wisest decision.

She kissed Nicole with a renewed urgency, leaning deeper into the kiss. Nicole shifted so she was on top of Waverly, one of her thighs in between Waverly’s legs. The sudden contact over her underwear made her gasp.

Nicole pulled away, a concerned expression on her face.

“Are you okay?”

Waverly blushed.

“Yeah I… um… it just felt… good.”

Nicole’s eyes darkened.

“It only felt ‘good’? Guess I’ll have to try harder,” she bit her lip before leaning back into Waverly.

Waverly leaned up to kiss her, but Nicole moved her mouth away teasingly. Instead she ghosted kisses down to the hollow of her neck and over her collar bone, scraping her teeth lightly over the skin and making Waverly shiver in anticipation.

“Get up lovebirds, we’re going swimming!” Wynonna burst into the room, causing Nicole to smack her head on Waverly’s chin.

“Owwh Wynonna, what happened to knocking?” Waverly groaned as she rubbed her chin.

“Just returning the favour baby girl,” she winked, “Anyway, get dressed, we’re going to the lake.”

Nicole was rubbing the top of her head.

“We were kind of in the middle of something Wynonna,” she grumbled.

“Why do you think I came in here Haught? We’re leaving in ten minutes so you both better be ready.”

Once they were alone again, Waverly sighed. Wynonna had an annoying habit of walking in just when things were heating up.

Nicole peeled herself away from Waverly and got out of the bed. She immediately felt cold despite the sun warming the room.

“We don’t have to do everything she says you know,” Waverly whined.

Nicole grinned as she picked up her trousers from the floor and stepped into them.

“You really think she’ll leave us alone if we’re not down there in nine minutes?”

Waverly shrugged.

“I can think of something we can do in nine minutes,” Waverly lowered her voice, trying to sound seductive.

Nicole placed her hands on the bed and leaned forwards so her lips were against Waverly’s ear.

“You really think that I can do everything I want to do to you in nine minutes?” She whispered.

Nicole pushed away from the bed and smirked, before making her way out of the room.

_Holy hell_.

As Waverly rose shakily from the bed, she tried to ignore the pounding between her thighs as she began to get ready for the day ahead.

=========

“You’re going down Waverly!”

“Oh yeah? Take that!”

Waverly swung her arms and pushed Wynonna in an attempt to make her fall back off Doc’s shoulders.

Instead, her weight shifted too far forwards for Nicole to hold her up any longer and they both went crashing into the water face first.

When they resurfaced, all four of them were laughing. Wynonna was punching her fists into the air in celebration.

“Just face it guys, you’ll never get me to go under.”

Nicole wrapped an arm around Waverly’s waist under the water and pulled her close.

“Oh is that right? Doc?”

Doc had a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

Wynonna looked like she realised what was happening a second too late. She opened her mouth to protest but was fully submerged before she could make a sound.

Doc had dunked himself under, dragging Wynonna down with him. When she came back up she was spluttering, trying to spit the water from her mouth. Doc returned soon after, running his hands through his hair to stop it from sticking to his face.

“You better swim fast John Henry Holliday because you are a dead man.”

Wynonna launched herself after Doc in the water, but he managed to dodge her grasp. He started to swim back towards the grassy bank where they had left their bags, with Wynonna following closely behind, yelling playfully to each other as they went.

Nicole leaned down and planted a kiss against Waverly’s temple.

Waverly had never felt so content. So whole. The sun was hot, the water was cool, and she was in the arms of Nicole Haught.

=========

“Remind me again why you’re going back to America?” Nicole murmured softly as she brushed her fingers up and down Waverly’s arm.

They had taken a blanket and some books out into the garden and were taking turns reading to each other in the sunshine. Waverly was lying on her stomach with the book resting against Nicole’s side and was mid-sentence when Nicole interrupted her.

The ball was in three days, and it was getting harder and harder to ignore the fact that Waverly would be leaving shortly after.

“We’ve talked about this,” Waverly sighed. She wanted nothing more than to stay. The last week and a half with Nicole had been one of the most special in her entire life. It was scary how quickly they had settled into a comfortable routine with each other, everything they did felt so familiar, as if they had been together for years instead of weeks, as if things were always going to happen this way. If it wasn’t for Nicole’s future with Winnipeg, she would have given up her modern life in a heartbeat to stay with her.

“That doesn’t mean I don’t wake up every day hoping you’ve changed your mind.”

Waverly closed her eyes. It was so much harder to accept that she had to leave when Nicole went and said things like that.

“We both agreed that we were just going to be grateful for the time we have together and then move on.”

Nicole stroked Waverly’s hair.

“We’re both idiots,” she grumbled.

Waverly chuckled and pulled herself up so she was hovering over the length of Nicole’s body.

“Definitely.” She grinned, leaned down to peck Nicole on the lips, and then returned to the book, picking up where she’d left off before Nicole had interrupted.

Waverly was very conscious of Nicole’s hand moving over her body as she read. She was drawing patterns over her ribcage, down the side of her stomach, and then over the top of her thigh.

She hadn’t realised she’d stopped reading until Nicole cleared her throat.

“Sorry, am I distracting you?” Nicole teased.

Waverly narrowed her eyes at her, Nicole knew exactly what she was doing. Waverly hadn’t exactly been discrete about her desires, but Nicole still held back. She’d never felt so tightly wound before, probably because Champ hadn’t exactly been hesitant in sleeping with her.

A small part of her worried that maybe Nicole didn’t _want_ to take things any further with her.

“You’re such a tease,” she tried to sound accusing, but Nicole just smiled wider.

“I’m just choosing my moment.”

Waverly squeezed her thighs together, trying to control the sudden heat that was growing between them.

“How about now?” She breathed, leaning over and connecting their lips. Nicole kissed her back, their tongues dancing against each other. She shifted so her back was on the ground and Nicole was over her. Was this it? Was it finally happening? Waverly’s heart started to race.

Nicole pulled out of the kiss and stared into Waverly’s eyes.

“Nope,” she mouthed.

==========

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FRICKEN FINALLY hope you enjoyed some of the fluff that ensued towards the end of that chapter :) 
> 
> As always, your comments and kudos mean so much! 
> 
> Thanks to my beta @Earperfamily and feel free to come chat to me on twitter @Artemis_1707.
> 
> What will happen at the Barton Ball? Come back Tuesday to find out!


	10. Just do something you want to do

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to chapter 10 and the Barton Ball...

Waverly felt like she was going to prom again, but this time it was with someone she actually liked.  
They had decided not to show each other their dresses so it would be a complete surprise when they saw each other downstairs, and the nerves were starting to set in. What if Nicole didn’t like what she’d chosen?

Her and Wynonna had made the trip into the village two weeks ago when they’d first found out about the ball. Wynonna didn’t understand why she needed a different dress to the one she was already being forced to wear, but after a lecture about the proper dress etiquette in Victorian Britain, she’d made the effort to come along. As soon as Waverly had seen the material hanging in the dressmakers, she had known that she wanted it for her dress. It was a warm blue, darker than her day dress but not so dark that the subtle pattern of the fabric was lost. She’d chosen the design from the samples and had her measurements taken before Wynonna had even decided on her material. After some back and forth, Waverly managed to convince Wynonna to choose navy blue instead of black, reminding her that they were going to a party and not a funeral.

Waverly had been stood in front of the mirror for ten minutes, fiddling with her dress to make sure everything looked perfect when Wynonna popped her head into the room.

“Everyone’s waiting downstairs Waves, stop fussing, you look amazing as always.”

Waverly took a deep breath – as deep as it could be in a corset – and followed Wynonna from the room.

As she descended the staircase, Nicole came into view.

Woah. Waverly knew that Nicole preferred to wear ‘men’s’ clothes, but that didn’t mean she didn’t look breathtaking in a dress. It was like looking at the stars. The dark material was flecked with silver and gold threads in swirling patterns following the contours of her body, almost forming their own constellations.

Waverly had to remind herself to breathe.

The look of complete and utter adoration on Nicole’s face as she watched Waverly walk towards her almost made Waverly’s heart explode. No-one had ever looked at her like that, so full of pride.

“Hi,” Waverly smiled nervously.

“Hi,” Nicole breathed. She leaned down and placed a lingering kiss to Waverly’s lips, “You look beautiful.”

Waverly snaked a hand around Nicole’s neck and twisted her fingers into the baby hairs at the back.

“You look more beautiful.”

“Not possible,” Nicole grinned, leaning back down for another kiss.

“Okay we get it, you both look beautiful, you both think the other looks beautiful, now can we please go?” Wynonna called from the front door, her hand clasped in Doc’s.

Nicole groaned quietly before grabbing Waverly’s hand and pulling her towards the door.

==========

Waverly had never really considered the importance of suspension in cars, but sitting in a horse drawn carriage going down a country lane suddenly had her wishing for it. It took all her effort not to fall forwards off her seat every two seconds.

It was only Nicole and Waverly inside the carriage, Doc was driving the horses and Wynonna had insisted on sitting up top with him because “she was going to puke if she had to keep watching her baby sister undress Haught with her eyes”.

Whilst she’d been slightly embarrassed by the statement, she couldn’t deny the truth in it. The tension between her and Nicole had grown so great that it consumed almost every thought. Maybe tonight would be the night…

Nicole squeezed her hand, bringing her back to the present.

“I wish I could hold onto you all night,” Nicole said sadly.

Waverly leaned her head on Nicole’s shoulder and rubbed her thumb gently over the back of her hand.

“I know, me too. But I’m sure we’ll still have fun.”

Nicole sighed deeply and kissed the top of Waverly’s head.

“Do you think… do you think that people like us are ever going to be able to live out in the open?” Nicole asked.

Waverly took a second to think about how she should answer, it was probably safest if she tried to come across as uncertain yet optimistic.

“I think any change in the way society thinks is going to take time, but it will get there. They’ll realise that there’s nothing _wrong_ with us, we’re just not the same, and rightly so! Why would everyone want to be the same? That’d be boring. But at the same time we are exactly the same! The way we feel about each other is no different to how a ‘traditional’ couple feels.”

It hadn’t been as short and sweet as she’d been aiming for, but it would do.

Nicole didn’t reply away. Oh god had she said something she shouldn’t have? She quickly replayed her answer in her head but couldn’t see anything particularly wrong with it.

Waverly sat up to look at Nicole and was shocked to see a tear streaking down her cheek.

“Nicole, hey, what’s the matter?” She used the back of her fingers to catch Nicole’s tears and smoothed their path over with her thumb.

“Waverly, I know that you’re leaving, I know, but if I don’t say this now then I’m going to regret it for the rest of my life.”

Nicole was speaking so fast that Waverly could hardly comprehend what she was saying. By the time her brain finally caught up Nicole was speaking again.

“Waverly, I’ve… I’ve fallen in love with you. And I know that I shouldn’t have, and it’s only been a month, and we both agreed that we would just enjoy this for what it is and move on, but I couldn’t control it! I’ve never met anyone like you, and I can’t imagine I’m going to meet anyone like you again.”

Waverly didn’t know what to say. She hadn’t prepared for this. There were a million things she wanted to say, most of which were some version of ‘I love you too’, but she just couldn’t make herself say the words.

Despite what Nicole thought, she _would_ meet someone after Waverly left, someone she would practically worship and want to make her wife. If Waverly confessed that she felt the same way (because of course she did), would she just be complicating things for Nicole? Make it harder for her to start things with Winnipeg?

Seconds of silence stretched between them as Waverly frantically tried to make up her mind as to what she should say. She could see Nicole was starting to panic.

All she could say was “um,” before the carriage door was flung open and Wynonna leaned in.

“We’re here guys, time to act like you’re not in love.”

Waverly cringed at Wynonna’s poorly chosen words and looked back at Nicole. She shot her a forced smile before getting up and stepping past Waverly out into the driveway, not saying a word.

“Nicole wait I –“ Waverly called, suddenly certain that saying anything would have been a hundred times better than saying nothing at all.

Nicole didn’t turn around; she was already talking to another guest and they were walking towards the torchlit entrance of the house together.

Waverly sighed. Great. Tonight was supposed to be special, and she had somehow already managed to mess it up before they’d even stepped inside.

“What was all that about?” Wynonna asked, frowning as she looked between Waverly next to her and Nicole walking away.

“Nicole told me that she’s in love with me,” Waverly sighed.

“… and that caused her to storm off because…?”

“Because I didn’t say it back.”

Wynonna’s eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

“But it’s obvious that you do.”

“That I do what?”

“Love her back.”

Waverly couldn’t deny it, despite her best efforts she _did_ love Nicole, even though she knew that Nicole was destined for somebody else. How could she not? 

“Waverly, you need to tell her how you feel.” Wynonna squeezed her arm as they walked through the doorway and handed over their invitations to a member of staff.

“It’s not that simple!” Waverly shot, “there are more factors to consider here other than whether I do or don’t love Nicole.”

The doorman gave them a confused look and Waverly hurried Wynonna past him, lowering her voice to avoid anyone else overhearing.

“I could accidently change the future Wynonna, time travel 101 remember?”

“Can you just stop thinking about what’s best for everyone else for one second and just do something _you_ want to do?” Wynonna hissed as they entered a big ballroom, already full of guests.

“In case you haven’t noticed, I haven’t _stopped_ thinking about myself since we got here, if I was thinking of anyone else, I wouldn’t have gotten involved with Nicole in the first place!” Just as she feared, her selfishness had ended up hurting Nicole, which was the last thing she wanted to do.

Wynonna dragged her over to the corner of the room, where fewer people were mingling.

“Waverly, if you don’t tell her, you’ll regret it the second we get home. So if you don’t do it, then I will.” Wynonna folded her arms and gave Waverly a challenging stare. Waverly glared back, trying to call her bluff. There was no way Wynonna would tell Nicole… she wouldn’t dare.

“Excuse me?” Wynonna called to a man walking past with a tray of champagne glasses, making him turn and smile. “Do you know where Miss Nicole Haught is?”

The man thought for a second before shaking his head.

“I’m afraid not ma’am, but would you like a drink?”

“Duh!” Wynonna grabbed two glasses from the tray, the man nodding politely before continuing off around the room. She handed one to Waverly, who narrowed her eyes at her.

“Ugh fine I’ll _think_ about telling Nicole.” It would definitely be better coming from her than Wynonna.

“Waverly I don’t think you can make things _worse_ by telling her that you’re in love with her.” Wynonna rolled her eyes, clinked her glass against Waverly’s and then emptied the entire contents into her mouth. Another waiter walked past, and she replaced her empty glass with a full one. Waverly hadn’t even taken her first sip yet.

Just then, music filled the room. Waverly looked around and spotted a string orchestra playing from a small stage. There was a flurry of movement and guests began to gather in the center of the floor, forming small groups and joining hands.

“Excuse me Miss Edison, may I have this dance?” Doc appeared next to the both of them, offering his hand out to Wynonna with a smirk on his face.

“Well hello Mr Holliday,” she grinned, “Did you get our things to the inn okay?”

“I didn’t have far to go, it’s practically next door. So, where are we on that dance?”

Wynonna looked at Waverly, almost like she was asking permission to go and have fun. How had Waverly suddenly become the big sister in this relationship?

“Go! Don’t worry about me, I need to find Nicole anyway.” She smiled, draining her glass of champagne. The more she drank, the more confident she became that telling Nicole was the right thing to do.

“Actually, this dance requires four, where _is_ Nicole?” Doc asked, looking around at the crowd.

Waverly shrugged, she hadn’t seen her since they’d entered the ball room. Doc spotted someone he knew and called them over.

“This is a good friend of mine, Mr Perry Crofte, Perry, this is Miss Wynonna and Miss Waverly Edison.”

The man grabbed Waverly’s hand and placed a delicate kiss on the back of it.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Miss Edison.”

Waverly smiled politely. She wanted to find Nicole, not dance with some random guy, but it would be rude to excuse herself now.

“Right,” Doc announced, “now go easy on her Perry, they don’t know this dance.”

Perry raised his eyebrows in surprise.

“How can you not know it?”

“We’re American,” Waverly and Wynonna chorused in unison.

===========

The first time through the dance, Waverly must have stepped on Perry’s toes about ten times. Sure, she loved dancing, but these old-fashioned group dances were in a league of their own.

After the third time, she was actually starting to enjoy herself. Every few beats the group would rotate, and she’d dance with Doc or Wynonna, before reuniting with Perry again.

He seemed nice and respectful enough, funny even, but it was obvious he was hoping that Waverly was interested in more than a dance. He kept trying to subtly hint that he didn’t have a wife. She almost felt bad for him, he was barking up the entirely wrong tree.

Waverly routinely scanned her eyes around the room, hoping she’d spot Nicole somewhere and a flash of red caught her attention. Nicole had suddenly appeared, dancing a few groups away from her, and she was looking straight at Waverly with a sad smile on her face.

Waverly leaned towards Perry so he could hear her speaking over the music.

“Could you excuse me for a moment?”

Waverly didn’t wait for his answer, instead beginning to weave her way through the dancers and spectators.

When Nicole saw she was coming towards her, she excused herself from her partner and began to walk in the opposite direction from Waverly. She followed her out into the hall and watched her slip through a door and close it behind her.

Waverly paused outside, unsure whether this was an invitation to join her or Nicole’s way of telling her she didn’t want to talk.

No. Nicole needed to know.

She turned the handle and pushed her way inside. Nicole was stood with her back to her, looking out the window at the people mingling outside.

“Nicole?”

“You don’t need to apologise Waverly, you didn’t do anything wrong. I’m the one who made this into something it’s not.”

Waverly walked up behind Nicole and wrapped her arms around her middle, pinning her arms to her side.

“Can you stop being stupid for a second and just dance with me?”

Nicole shifted so she was facing Waverly, looking slightly perplexed. Waverly looped her arms around Nicole’s neck and starting swaying from side to side to the faint music playing in the ball room.

“Tell me again,” Waverly whispered after a few silent moments.

Nicole frowned, before flashing Waverly’s favourite dimpled smile in realisation.

“Waverly Edison, I’m in love with you.”

Waverly took a deep breath. There was no turning back now.

“Nicole Haught, I’m in love with you too.”

Waverly’s heart began to race. She’d actually said it. And it had felt so… right.

Waverly pulled Nicole’s face towards her own and kissed her slowly, pouring everything she had into it. Nicole responded instantly, moving her hands to Waverly’s hips and drawing her closer into her body. When she was kissing Nicole, she never wanted to stop.

Nicole leaned her forehead against Waverly’s, breaking the kiss and panting slightly.

“I think I’ve chosen my moment,” Nicole whispered.

It took Waverly a moment to work out what she was talking about. Then it clicked. Oh. _Oh._ This was happening.

She closed the gap between them in response, and felt Nicole chuckling against her lips.

“Not here Waverly, Christ are you trying to get us into trouble?”

Waverly groaned, she didn’t know if she could wait until they got to the inn, there was already a growing ache in the pit of her stomach.

“The inn is only five minutes away, I promise I’ll make it worth the wait…”

Waverly shuddered in anticipation as Nicole pulled her out of the room and back into the hallway.

=========

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You may have noticed that this is 1 of 2 chapters I have posted today. They were initially one chapter but *spoiler alert* the next chapter (11) is just Wayhaught sexy times and I wanted to make it easier for readers to avoid those bits if that's not your thing.  
> So if it is your thing, go enjoy the next chapter, if it isn't, just pretend chapter 11 doesn't exist and come back Friday for chapter 12!  
> 


	11. Am I dreaming?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... you have been warned, this chapter is basically just Waverly's and Nicole's first time together, so the rating for this one is EXPLICIT.
> 
> I thought this would be one of the easier chapters to write, but I found it surprisingly hard... so I applaud anyone who writes good smut!  
> Anyway this is my first time writing this kind of thing so... enjoy?

“Now ladies, here are your keys. Your room is up the stairs and the fifth door on the left. I assume your husbands are still enjoying themselves at the Barton Ball?”

A plump, balding man with tiny round spectacles held out a key to Nicole from behind the counter, and she grabbed it from him a little too eagerly.

“Yes our _husbands_ ,” Nicole subtly laced her fingers with Waverly’s below the countertop so the man couldn’t see, “are still up at Barton house, they probably won’t be back for a while.”

“Ah well, I’m sure you ladies can entertain yourselves until they arrive.”

Waverly was trying her best not to laugh. The poor man would probably have a heart attack if he knew what they were going to do to ‘entertain themselves’.

Nicole smirked, her mind obviously going to a similar place as Waverly’s.

“I’m sure we can,” Nicole looked at Waverly and grinned, rubbing slow, suggestive circles on the back of her hand.

Waverly couldn’t bare any more small talk, she needed to be alone with Nicole before her last shred of self-restraint disappeared into thin air.

“Okay then, goodnight!” She squeaked before practically dragging Nicole away from the counter and up the narrow staircase.

“Enjoy your evening ladies!”

“Oh we will!” Nicole called, bursting into laughter as soon as they were out of ear shot.

Luckily, there didn’t seem to be anyone else around as they stumbled down the corridor towards their room, giggling and stealing kisses as they went.

Waverly unlocked the door and pushed her way inside, Nicole following closely behind. She locked the door again from the inside, the last thing they needed was someone to accidently walk in – or on purpose, if it was Wynonna.

“I’m just going to use the bathroom,” Nicole murmured, tucking a strand of Waverly’s hair behind her ear and leaning down to give her a quick kiss. Waverly hummed in response and watched Nicole disappearing into the adjoining room.

Once she was alone, she began to pull the pins from her hair, letting it fall down her back as she wandered around the bedroom. There was a grand four poster bed in the centre, with a long couch facing the window on the front wall. She spotted their trunk at the foot of the bed, Doc must have delivered it to the inn after dropping them at the dance.

Without Nicole here to distract her, Waverly couldn’t help but focus on how nervous she was. Her mouth was alarmingly dry and her palms were getting clammier by the second. Perching on the edge of the couch, she closed her eyes and tried to remember how to breathe.

“We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to,” Nicole said softly, her sudden reappearance making Waverly jump.

She opened her eyes and smiled.

“Believe me, I want to. I’m just… nervous.”

“Me too,” Nicole laughed breathily.

Waverly had read enough of Nicole’s diary to know that she’d slept with her fair share of women in her years of travelling, so the fact that she was nervous too actually helped a little.

She reached out to grab Nicole’s hand and tugged, so that she sat down next to her. They leaned their foreheads together.

“I love you,” she whispered.

“And I love you, so much,” Nicole whispered back.

She closed the gap between them and Waverly sighed into the kiss. Her nerves dissipated, this was where she was meant to be.

She deepened the kiss, opening her mouth slightly and brushing her tongue gently over Nicole’s bottom lip. When their tongues met Waverly felt overcome with desire once more. She moved forwards, pushing Nicole so that she was leaning back on the couch. She tried to swing her leg so it was over Nicole’s but she was being restricted by something.

She tried again, but still couldn’t do it. She groaned in frustration into Nicole’s mouth and broke their kiss, looking down to see what the problem was.

“Baby, I think you need to take your dress off,” Nicole laughed.

Waverly placed a hot kiss on Nicole’s jaw before standing up from the couch.

“Correction, I think _you_ need to take my dress off,” Waverly said over her shoulder as she turned away from Nicole.

Nicole stood, and moved Waverly’s hair away from the back of her neck, kissing the exposed skin softly. She moved her fingers down the back of her dress, undoing the fastenings in an expert fashion, kissing down her spine as it was slowly revealed.

When her dress fell to the floor, Nicole continued to kiss down Waverly’s body, brushing her lips and hands over her waist and down her legs.

Waverly could already feel heat building between her thighs, there was something extremely hot about seeing Nicole down on her knees in front of her.

Waverly stepped out of her dress and pulled Nicole up from the floor, giggling as they stumbled back a little into the wall. Nicole’s hands were eager against her skin, roaming from her hips to her ass as they kissed.

Waverly tried to reach behind Nicole and undo her dress without breaking the kiss, but she couldn’t seem to unhook it.

“Can you turn around for a second this thing is like a puzzle,” Waverly panted.

Nicole obliged and spun around so that Waverly could finally see what she was doing. Nicole’s dress fell to the ground and Waverly gasped. Unlike Waverly who had been wearing a corset and underwear underneath her dress, Nicole had decided that the dress alone had been enough.

Waverly’s eyes swept over Nicole’s naked form as she turned back around, taking in every glorious detail.

There was a playful glint in Nicole’s eyes, she’d known exactly what she was doing when she got dressed this evening.

“Something wrong?” Nicole smirked.

“You play a dangerous game Haught,” Waverly said huskily, placing a hand on Nicole’s chest and pushing slightly.

Nicole’s knees met the edge of the couch and buckled, so she was sat down with Waverly stood in between her legs. Nicole moved her arms to wrap them around Waverly’s thighs, but she quickly stepped out of reach.

“Hey!” Nicole chuckled, leaning forwards to try and pull Waverly into her.

“Not so fast,” Waverly teased. There was no way she was going to spend another second in this corset, and she was sure making a show of taking it off would drive Nicole crazy. Perfect.

She turned to the side and began to undo the top of the corset, maintaining eye contact with Nicole the entire time. Nicole was wide eyed, and biting her bottom lip as she watched.

Just as Waverly got to the fastening that would reveal her breasts, she turned to face the wall so Nicole couldn’t see her front. She heard Nicole groan and grinned, her plan was working.

Waverly looked over her shoulder and swung her hips from side to side, popping open the bottom of the corset and holding it open. She let it drop to the floor, before slowly turning on the spot so she was facing Nicole again.

Nicole’s jaw was slightly slack as her eyes raked over Waverly’s body. She stepped back in between Nicole’s legs and shivered when their skin touched.

Nicole snaked a hand around the back of Waverly’s thigh and ran the other up the side of her ribcage, dotting kisses across the top of her stomach. Her hair brushed against one of Waverly’s nipples and she sighed at the contact.

Nicole looked up at the sound and her eyes darkened. Maintaining eye contact, she moved a hand over Waverly’s breast and closed her mouth over the other, swirling her tongue over Waverly’s nipple.

The sensation was amazing, she felt each flick of Nicole’s tongue adding to the ache that was between her legs. Waverly twisted her fingers into Nicole’s hair and sunk down onto the couch, unable to stand any longer, and pulled Nicole back up to her mouth.

Straddling Nicole, she could feel the heat radiating from her. A warm feeling washed over as she thought about the fact that she had done that. Nicole was feeling that for _her._

Waverly wanted to feel the effect she was having on Nicole. She needed to touch her, to be inside of her.

“Can I touch you?” Waverly breathed between kisses.

“I thought we were touching?” Nicole teased.

Waverly kissed Nicole, playfully nipping her bottom lip.

“Don’t be a smart ass,” Waverly sassed as she ran her fingers over Nicole stomach between their bodies.

“Yes,” Nicole breathed as Waverly’s hand hovered over her inner thigh.

Waverly ran her fingers over the soft skin of Nicole’s thighs, dancing them around where she knew Nicole wanted them to be.

She could already feel Nicole’s wetness on her fingers, making them slide easily over her skin.

Nicole wrapped a hand in Waverly’s hair and pulled their mouths together. The kiss was desperate, and Waverly knew that Nicole couldn’t wait much longer.

As she brushed her tongue against Nicole’s, she moved her fingers through Nicole’s slick folds. The moan of satisfaction from Nicole vibrated through Waverly and she felt it in her core.

She pressed lightly around Nicole’s entrance, before gently grazing her thumb over her clit. Nicole jerked at the sudden contact, breaking their kiss.

“Is this okay?” Waverly asked.

Nicole nodded and swallowed thickly, before moving her hand over Waverly’s in between her legs. She guided one of Waverly’s fingers into her entrance, throwing her head back in a moan as she did so.

Waverly began to move her finger in and out, marvelling at how turned on Nicole was. As she flicked her thumb over Nicole’s clit again she slid in a second finger, slowly getting into a rhythm.

“Fuck Waves,” Nicole panted, “keep your thumb there.”

Waverly moved her thumb back over to Nicole’s clit, but instead of just grazing over it, she pressed onto it, drawing small, slow circles.

“Like that?” She breathed against Nicole’s ear.

“Shit, _yes_ ,” Nicole hissed in response, her hips beginning to move forward to meet Waverly’s hand in anticipation.

Waverly began to move her fingers faster, curling them slightly inside of her so she could brush against Nicole’s front wall as she moved in and out.

Her legs were beginning to burn as she tried to hold herself up over Nicole, but mostly, she just felt more turned on than she ever had in her life. Seeing how undone Nicole was becoming just through Waverly’s touch, was making her soak her own underwear.

She tightened the circles over Nicole’s clit and used her weight to thrust deeper, every involuntary sound espcaping from Nicole’s lips fuelled her to maintain the rhythm.

“Waves, I’m going to –“ Nicole moaned loudly and Waverly felt her walls clenching tightly around her fingers, her clit pulsing underneath her thumb as she reached orgasm.

Nicole leaned her head onto the back of the couch, breathing heavily. Waverly leaned forwards and placed a kiss against her neck before slowly sliding her fingers out from inside her.

Her fingers were covered in Nicole’s arousal, and she had a sudden overwhelming desire to taste it. As Nicole looked up, Waverly sucked her fingers into her mouth and swirled her tongue around them.

The look on Nicole’s face was priceless, the perfect combination of shock and red hot desire. Waverly grinned as she pulled them out again, wiping them against her thigh.

“Am I dreaming?” Nicole purred, rubbing her eyes in disbelief with her forearm.

Waverly swung her leg from over Nicole and sunk back into the couch, laughing.

“You’ve got an impressive imagination if you are,” she teased, twirling her fingers in Nicole’s hair, lightly scraping her nails against her scalp.

“You’re right, never in a million years could I have dreamt up something like that.” She flashed her dimples and Waverly practically melted.

“I have, however, dreamt of a few other things that I think you might enjoy,” Nicole continued, lowering her voice suggestively.

Waverly’s breathing shallowed as she imagined what was in store for her.

“Is that so?” She cocked her eyebrow.

Nicole stood from the couch, her legs shaking slightly from her orgasm. Waverly squealed as she was suddenly lifted into the air over Nicole’s shoulder, her head upside-down looking at Nicole’s back.

She wiggled her legs to try and get Nicole to put her down but instead received a playful slap on her ass.

“Keep still, you’re making this harder than it needs to be!” She grunted as she climbed around the couch and staggered over to the bed.

Nicole practically threw Waverly onto the bed, laughing as she bounced up off the matress. Waverly smoothed her hands over the quilt she was lying on, it was so soft she felt like she was lying on a cloud.

Nicole crawled her way up Waverly’s body so she was hovering over her, one leg slotted between her own.

She dipped her head and their mouths slid together like it was second nature. As Nicole’s hands roamed over Waverly’s breasts once more, the intensity of the growing fire seemingly doubled.

Nicole’s thigh pressed against Waverly’s underwear as she adjusted her position over her and Waverly moaned involuntarily at the pressure.

Nicole smiled against her mouth, before moving her attention down to Waverly’s neck and chest.  
As she kissed closer and closer to Waverly’s underwear, her breathing quickened. Her eyes fluttered closed as she waited for the relief of Nicole’s mouth against her, but it never came.

She cracked open one of her eyes and saw Nicole had bypassed her underwear and moved her kisses down Waverly’s legs instead. Of course, Nicole was going to tease her just as much as Waverly had.

She closed her eyes and tried to enjoy the sensation of Nicole’s mouth moving across her skin, but all she could think about was how Nicole’s tongue wasn’t where she needed it.

Tantilisingly slowly, Nicole moved her way back up Waverly’s legs, her fingers dipping under the waistband of her underwear.

“Can I take these off? They’re kind of in the way,” Nicole murmured against her thighs, looking up at Waverly.

Waverly eagerly lifted her hips off the bed in agreement, so Nicole could slide them off. The sudden cool air against her hot centre was strangely pleasurable. Nicole threw them off the side of the bed before crawling back up over Waverly.

“I want to know how you taste,” Nicole whispered into Waverly’s ear. Just hearing the words was enough to send a wave of arousal through her body.

“God, please,” Waverly whimpered in response.

Nicole nipped Waverly’s earlobe, and kissed along the line of her jaw, before placing a final kiss on her mouth.

Waverly ran her nails lightly over Nicole’s shoulder blades as she moved back down between her legs.

Nicole ran a hand up Waverly’s leg, bending it at the knee so the sole of her foot was flat against the matress. She then looped her arm through the gap between her thigh and ankle and lay her arm flat against Waverly’s stomach, pressing her into the bed.

The first touch was enough to make Waverly moan. Nicole had spread her folds and run her tongue from Waverly’s entrance to just underneath her clit. She used her fingers to pull the skin taught and expose it, blowing cool air directly onto it.

_Holy Christ._

Waverly felt like there were sparks of electricity shooting through her.

Nicole closed her mouth over Waverly’s clit and sucked on it gently, using her tongue to swirl slow circles over it. With her free hand, she teased Waverly’s entrance, dipping in up to her first knuckle and then pulling it out again.

The mix of sensations coursing through her body right now were almost overwhelming, but she needed Nicole to go faster if she was going to get any relief from the building ache in her gut.

“Baby,” she panted, “I need more.”

Nicole responded immediately and Waverly twisted her hands into Nicole’s hair so she had something to hold onto.

She felt her push an entire finger inside of her, moving it in a circular motion, exploring her. Nicole’s tongue had also picked up the pace, and she was alternating between broad soft strokes and hard, pointed flicks over her clit.

“ _Fuck_ ,” she moaned, as she felt a second finger join the first.

Nicole twisted her fingers and hit a sweet spot inside Waverly, making her tighten her grip in Nicole’s hair.

The persistent attention on her clit was causing the pressure to build within Waverly; she wasn’t going to last much longer.

Her breathing quickened as Nicole continued to explore with her fingers and tongue, sucking her clit into her mouth and releasing it with a pop.

Nicole pushed Waverly’s legs further apart, and her fingers went impossibly deeper.

Waverly couldn’t hold back anymore.

The fire inside her exploded and she felt her hips jerking as Nicole continued to move her mouth over her, helping her ride out her orgasm.

She shouted Nicole’s name, not caring if anyone else could hear her. She felt like she was suspended in time, feeling everything and nothing all at once. 

Nicole placed a soft kiss against Waverly before pulling her fingers out and wiping them on her thigh, a smug grin on her face.

“Come here,” Waverly demanded playfully once she had regained the ability to form a coherent thought.

Nicole wiped her chin on the back of her arm and made her way back up to Waverly’s face. Waverly pulled her down into a kiss, tasting herself on Nicole’s tongue and humming in pleasure.

They rolled so they were both on their sides, tangling their legs together as they shared the slow, languid kiss.

Waverly couldn’t believe what had just happened. She had never, ever felt that good on her first time with _anyone_ before. Her and Nicole had slotted together like two pieces of a puzzle: a perfect fit, and the results had been indescribable.

Waverly pulled her face away so she could look at Nicole’s face close to hers. She could stare at her all night. Although there were a few other things she wouldn’t mind doing instead…

“I can’t believe that just happened,” Waverly whispered, resting her forehead against Nicole’s.

Nicole grinned, planting a soft kiss on the tip of Waverly’s nose.

“You better believe it.”

“Oh yeah? What happens if I don’t?” Waverly teased.

A deep growl resonated from Nicole’s throat and she pushed herself over Waverly again.

“Then we’ll just have to keep going until you do.”

=========

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now we're coming up to the last few chapters, I find myself just as unwilling to wait as you guys, so I think I'm just going to be updating twice a week now until the end - Tuesdays and Fridays - unless you guys enjoy waiting a whole week?? ;) 
> 
> As always thanks to my beta @Earperfamily, come find me on twitter @Artemis_1707 and please do leave comments and kudos, they really brighten my day and make me even more excited to post the next chapter!
> 
> I shall see you all on Friday for chapter 12... you really won't want to miss it...


	12. This is why I avoid feelings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry in advance...

Waverly woke to the feeling of Nicole’s lips ghosting over her skin and hummed sleepily. She felt arms wrap around her tightly and wiggled around so her head was snuggled into Nicole’s chest.

“Good morning,” Nicole rested her chin on top of Waverly’s head.

“Morning,” Waverly croaked. She was surprised at how rough her throat felt, until she remembered the events of the previous night. She noted the ache in her muscles and the slight soreness of her lips, pleasant reminders of what had probably been one of the best nights of her life.

“So, I had this crazy dream last night…” Nicole began playfully.

“Uh-huh, what happened?” Waverly asked, playing along. She hoped she was right about where Nicole was going with this.

“Well… it’s probably easier if I just show you,” Nicole moved a hand to Waverly’s chin and lifted it, so she could lean down and place a soft kiss against her lips.

Waverly was about to hook her leg over Nicole’s when the bedroom door started to rattle. She looked over at it, frowning.

“Guys open up, it’s Wynonna!” The door rattled again.

Waverly rolled her eyes, as always Wynonna had impeccable timing.

“Hang on!” She called from the bed, looking around to see if there was anything she could quickly throw on to cover herself. Her dress would take at least five minutes to put on, so a blanket would have to do.

Wrapping it around herself like a towel, she padded over to the door to unlock it.

“Jesus Waverly it stinks of sex in here,” Wynonna wrinkled her nose as she peered inside. “Oh, hey Haught.”

Nicole waved awkwardly from the bed whilst trying to make sure that she was completely covered by the sheets.

Wynonna lowered her voice so only Waverly could hear, “I guess the whole ‘I love you’s’ went well then?” she elbowed her in the side before inviting herself further into the room.

“What exactly is it that you want Wynonna?”

“Oh yeah, Doc said that we should probably head down to the coast soon, because the high tide will cover the trombone… or something.”

Waverly shared a confused look with Nicole.

“Do you mean Tombolo?” Nicole asked, her head cocked to the side.

Wynonna shrugged, “Yeah, that’s what I said, trombone, Tombolo, same difference.”

Waverly had completely forgotten about the real reason they had even come on this trip; theoretically, her bag was ‘in sands between two bays’. According to Nicole and Doc, there was a Tombolo down by the coast, a short walk from the inn.

Having never visited the ocean, Waverly had no clue what a Tombolo was, but apparently it fitted the description in the clue, so she had gone along with it.

She tried to ignore the building nausea that she felt as she thought about what would happen if the bag _was_ there. She’d no longer have an excuse to stay. It would be time to say goodbye to Nicole.

She said a silent prayer that it wasn’t.

==========

“Well, there’s definitely something there,” Doc said, holding his hand over his eyes to shield them from the sun.

They were stood at one end of the Tombolo, pausing to catch their breath after climbing down the rocky coastal path. Waverly had never seen anything like it. As soon as they’d reached the sand she’d thrown off her shoes so she could feel it between her toes. She breathed deeply, allowing the salty sea air to fill her lungs.

She now understood what a Tombolo was, and it was breathtaking. The sand narrowed into a single strip and stretched across to a second coast almost like a bridge, with water washing onto either side of it.

She looked in the direction that Doc was pointing and her heart sank, there was definitely something there.

She snuck a look at Nicole, but she had her eyes closed, breathing deeply, and smiling into the sun.

“Let’s go check it out then!” Wynonna said, tugging on Doc’s arm. Waverly watched as they slowly made their way towards the middle. How was Wynonna so calm about this whole thing? She seemed pretty taken with Doc, but at the same time didn’t seem to care about leaving.

“Shall we?” Nicole offered her arm out to Waverly, suggesting that they follow. She looked around to make sure there wasn’t anyone else on the beach and then took it, leaning into her side as they walked slowly across the sand after Wynonna and Doc.

When they finally reached the center, Waverly felt like crying. Her bag was there, Wynonna rifling through it. She squeezed Nicole’s hand to try and keep herself together. Crying now was not an option, Nicole would ask too many questions.

Wynonna stood up and lifted the bag onto her back.

“Is um everything in there?” Waverly asked cautiously, hoping Wynonna understood what she meant.

Wynonna nodded, “Yep, everything.”

Waverly swallowed thickly. This was it. She no longer had an excuse to stay. Apart from the fact that she was in love with Nicole. No. If anything, that was a reason to leave. Waverly knew Nicole’s future, and she couldn’t have it if Waverly was there. She loved her enough to want her to be truly happy, even if that meant it wasn’t with her.

She cleared her throat and smiled sadly at Nicole.

“Let’s head back shall we?”

===========

The journey back to Nicole’s and Doc’s had been quiet to say the least. It seemed to have dawned on everyone that things were about to change, the beautiful, crazy bubble they had all been living in for the past month was about to burst. They hadn’t even asked about the peculiar design of the bag, which was unusual seeing as they had jumped at the chance to ask them about every other ‘American’ thing they owned over the past couple of weeks.

Wynonna and Waverly had found a moment alone to discuss what they should do next. After a bit of back and forth they hesitantly agreed that they should probably leave sooner rather than later, now that they had the devices back. After all, it had already been extremely risky staying as long as they had.

Once they’d had a chance to say goodbye to Doc and Nicole, they would have to leave.

When Waverly was finally alone in her room, the tears she had been holding back spilled over. They streaked down her cheeks, and she made no attempt to stop them. She trudged over to her bed and curled up into the sheets, letting the sadness swallow her.

She had known this moment would be ten times harder if she let herself get involved with Nicole, but she’d been selfish and done it anyway. And now she was sobbing into a blanket, waiting for the moment she would have to break Nicole’s heart.

“Waverly?”

Oh crap. Apparently that moment was now, whilst she was in the middle of having a breakdown.

“Waverly, hey,” Nicole climbed onto the bed next to her and pulled her into her lap, wrapping her arms around her and stroking her hair. She tried to wipe some of Waverly’s tears away, but they were quickly replaced by fresh ones. “What’s going on?”

“Wynonna and I are leaving,” Waverly tried to stop crying but the tears kept flowing. She couldn’t dance around the subject any longer. This talk with Nicole was inevitable, but she wasn’t sure she was ready for the pain that came with it.

Nicole’s hand froze on Waverly’s head.

“Waverly, there’s no rush, it’s not like you’re leaving first thing in the morning. We still have a couple of weeks together right, at least?”

Waverly pulled away from Nicole, this was going to be so much harder than she had imagined.

“Nicole, Wynonna and I _are_ leaving tomorrow.”

Waverly watched as a series of emotions flashed across Nicole’s face: shock, hurt, anger.

“What?”

“I can’t drag this out any longer, it’ll just get more and more painful to leave,” she said quietly.

“Then don’t leave!” Nicole cried out, making Waverly jump. “God, Waverly I’ve wanted you to stay since the moment I laid my eyes on you. I didn’t even know you, and I _wanted_ you.”

Waverly pushed herself up from the bed and walked towards the window, maybe if she didn’t have to look at Nicole’s face it wouldn’t feel like the world was falling apart around her.

“Don’t do that,” Waverly groaned, putting her head in her hands.

“What?”

“Act like I’m the most important thing in your life! You’re going to be just fine without me Nicole!”

Waverly’s mind flashed to Nicole’s writings about Winnipeg, she would be more than fine without Waverly.

“Don’t you get it Waverly?” Nicole stood from the bed, tears filling her eyes. “I don’t _want_ to be without you. Please. Please stay with me. I’m asking, no, I’m begging you to stay with me.”

There was an edge to Nicole’s voice which Waverly had never heard before, a sense of sheer desperation, of panic. Her brain was going into overdrive, trying to find a way out. Every fibre of her being wanted to stay, to be with Nicole. To surge forwards and kiss her and tell her she’d stay for her. She’d give up her whole life for her if she could.

But she couldn’t. She had a responsibility. Time travel 101.

“I can’t.”

“Can’t? Or won’t? You’re the boss of your own life! God, I _love_ you Waverly. I thought you said you loved me too.” Nicole was trying to stop her bottom lip from quivering, the sudden uncertainty in her voice evident.

“I do!” Waverly wished she could tell her how much. If she loved Nicole _less_ then she would stay, but she knew that Nicole would find love in Winnipeg. She’d want to marry her for christ sake. Waverly couldn’t stand in the way of that kind of love.

“Then you could at least have the decency to tell me what’s really going on here.”

“No.”

“Waver-“ Nicole reached out to grab Waverly’s arm, but she took a step back.

“I said no.”

Nicole’s face fell.

Waverly’s heart broke into a thousand tiny pieces.

“I guess this is goodbye then,” Nicole said flatly.

Waverly looked down at her feet, she couldn’t make herself say the words.

She heard her door click shut, and she was alone.

============

Waverly had cried until her lungs ached. She’d lost track of the time, but the sun had long since set.

She had tried to sleep, but every time she closed her eyes, her argument with Nicole replayed in her head. It had been unavoidable, but that didn’t mean it hurt any less.

Instead, she stared into the darkness, wishing more than anything that she had Nicole’s arms wrapped around her again.

At some point in the night, she heard someone quietly open and close her door. It was probably Wynonna checking on her for the twentieth time that evening.

She felt the mattress dip as whoever it was lay down next to her.

“Waverly,” the voice whispered.

She tensed. It was Nicole.

“Waverly, I’m sorry.”

Waverly rolled so she was facing Nicole, she could just make out the outline of her face from the faint light of the moon shining through the window.

“Nicole?” Waverly said huskily, uncertain as to whether Nicole was really there or if she’d finally fallen asleep. Her throat felt sore from all the crying.

“Hi,” she breathed.

Waverly was confused. Why was she saying sorry? It was Waverly who had done everything wrong.

“Why are you apologising?”

“That shouldn’t be how we say goodbye,” replied Nicole softly, rubbing her thumb over Waverly’s cheek.

Waverly closed her eyes and sighed, just a single touch from Nicole and she felt like she was coming back to life.

“But I told you I won’t stay,” she murmured.

“I know.”

“And I won’t tell you why.”

“I know.”

They lay there in silence for a moment, only the sounds of their shallow breaths filling the room.

“Can I just hold you for a while?” Nicole whispered, “I didn’t know the last time would be… the last time.”

Well, if this was a dream, she might as well indulge in it.

She leaned into Nicole and brushed their lips together softly. They tasted salty, Nicole must have been crying too. Of course she had. Waverly had broken her heart and couldn’t even give her a good reason as to why.

Waverly shuffled down the bed so that she could rest her head against Nicole’s chest, and sighed in relief when she felt arms wrap around her. She twisted her fists into Nicole’s shirt and finally allowed her heavy lids to slide closed as she listened to the steady rhythm of Nicole’s heart.

==========

As soon as Waverly woke up, she felt sick. She could feel her pulse beating uncomfortably fast in her neck and there was an unpleasant taste in her mouth. Today was the day.

Nicole was in her bed, her arms still wrapped around her. So, it hadn’t been a dream. Nicole was snoring gently, her breathing steady. Waverly didn’t want to move. Instead, she breathed in deeply, filling her lungs with Nicole’s calming vanilla scent.

She tried to memorise how this felt. Feeling so warm and secure in Nicole’s embrace.

“If you pretend you’re still asleep then you won’t have to leave yet,” Nicole whispered sleepily into Waverly’s hair, “that’s what I’ve been doing.”

Waverly chuckled sadly.

“I’m sorry,” she continued, “I promised myself I wouldn’t try and make you stay again.”

Waverly sighed. There was no point delaying this any longer. If she didn’t leave soon, she knew she never would.

“I should start getting my stuff together,” she said quietly.

Nicole squeezed her and then got up, trying to discreetly wipe a tear away from her cheek before Waverly saw it.

“I’ll see you downstairs.”

============

“How did we get into this mess?” Wynonna mumbled as she gathered the last of her things together from around her room. The fact they were leaving had finally seemed to have hit her. Waverly was sat on Wynonna’s bed, watching her move around.

“I mean this is why I avoid feelings, because when the inevitable goodbye comes, I don’t give a shit. But now, man this just feels horrible. If you ever see me getting too comfortable with someone again, you have my permission to hit me.”

Waverly didn’t have any comforting words for Wynonna. She just felt hollow. Wynonna stopped in front of her, rubbing a hand over her arm.

“Hey, I’m sorry, this must be so much worse for you.”

Waverly closed her eyes, trying to hold herself together.

“You have no idea.”

Wynonna looked down at the small pile of possessions which she had acquired during their stay.

“Well, baby girl, I think that’s everything.”

She opened her eyes again and raised herself shakily from the bed.

“Okay.”

==========

Doc and Nicole were waiting for them downstairs by the front door, chatting quietly to each other. They stopped when they noticed Wynonna and Waverly coming down the stairs towards them.

“Now you two, if you have any problems then write to us, we’ll do whatever we can,” Doc smiled warmly.

Waverly was really going to miss him.

“Thank you Henry, for everything,” Waverly said as she leaned in to hug him.

Waverly turned to face Nicole; her eyes were red from crying. Nicole spread her arms and she melted into them, savouring every last touch.

They stood there in each other’s embrace, not saying a word.

Waverly breathed her in one last time.

“I’m never going to forget you Waverly Edison,” Nicole said softly into Waverly’s hair.

Waverly bit her lip, almost painfully, if she opened her mouth now she would tell Nicole everything.

She pulled away from Nicole and smiled sadly, before turning and walking out the door without looking back.

============

“Hey Waves, I think we’re far enough away now, don’t you?” Wynonna called from a few metres behind her.

Waverly hadn’t really been paying attention to where she’d been going, or even how long they’d been walking for, she just knew that she needed to get as far away from Nicole as possible so she wasn’t tempted to go back.

She stopped, letting Wynonna catch up with her. Wynonna swung the bag off her back and unzipped it, digging around inside for the two devices. She pulled them out, handing one to Waverly.

“Okay so you flip the top open, and then use the dials on the side to input the date and time we want to go to. Then there’s a box along the bottom you can input coordinates.” Wynonna pointed to the small buttons along the edge of the face. “We should probably go back to a few minutes after we left BBD, right?” She fiddled with her own device, before flipping the lid closed again once it beeped.

Waverly looked down at her own device and followed Wynonna’s instructions, but however much she pressed the buttons, the date and time remained the same. She frowned, maybe she was doing it wrong? She tried again, but nothing happened.

“Mines not changing Wynonna.” Waverly said flatly. She didn’t even have the energy to get properly worked up about it.

“Give it here,” Wynonna reached out and pulled the device from Waverly’s hands. She watched as Wynonna repeatedly pushed the buttons, getting more and more frustrated.

“For some reason it’s stuck on the date we first arrived here, probably a result of the explosion. Not ideal, but I’ll just program mine to take two of us. Here, put this back in the bag, maybe Jeremy can fix it.”

Waverly was hardly listening to her, she just wanted to be back at home in her bed wrapped in four blankets, plus a bonus blanket, and listening to her breakup playlist on full volume. She stuffed the device back into the bag and waited for Wynonna to finish fiddling with hers.

“Okay. You ready Waverly? You need to grab onto this, and for the love of god do not let go because who knows where you’d end up. Wouldn’t want you falling in love with any other historical figures eh?”

Waverly glared at her sister, who grimaced apologetically.

“Sorry, definitely too soon for jokes.”

Waverly grabbed onto Wynonna’s wrist and closed her eyes.

There was a beeping sound, and they were consumed by a flash of white light.

==========

Waverly landed back in the BBD corridor, sprawled across the floor, somehow Wynonna had managed to land on her feet.

She coughed against the tiles, trying to shake the strange feeling that was all over her from their trip back. It had felt like every piece of her body had been pulled apart and stuck back together again.

Apart from her heart, that was definitely still in pieces.

“Ahh! Hot, hot,” Wynonna frantically tried to unfasten the device from her wrist which appeared to be on fire. She threw it onto the floor and stamped on it, trying to put out the flames.

“Wynonna? Waverly?”

She looked up and saw Dolls and Jeremy, right where they’d left them. Jeremy was still holding his gun and Doll’s had his hands in the air.

Wynonna bent over and hooked her arm around Waverly’s helping her to stand. When she did, she swayed a little, suddenly dizzy.

“Woah there, you okay Waves?” Wynonna asked, supporting her weight.

“Yeah,” she mumbled, “just a bit dizzy.”

“Yeah that happens the first few times, takes a while to get used to.”

Waverly just nodded, waiting for it to pass. When her vision cleared, she saw that Dolls and Jeremy were coming towards them.

“Jeremy what on earth is going on with the devices? They’ve been burning up left right and centre!” Wynonna scowled.

“Earp, what the hell happened? Why are you wearing… that?” Dolls gestured to their dresses.

“We got stuck in Victorian England for a month because Jeremy’s stupid inventions are a pile of crap,” Wynonna started.

“Month?!” Dolls shouted at the same time as Jeremy shouted “Crap?!”

“You both need to follow me, I need to know exactly what happened,” Dolls demanded.

“Hey, it’s not my fault! They’re still technically prototypes, I never said they were perfect!” Jeremy said defensively.

The last thing Waverly wanted to do was to spend the next hour recounting everything that had happened. She didn’t want to think about it yet, it was all too raw.

“Wynonna,” she groaned quietly.

Her sister looked at her, searching in her eyes for what Waverly needed.

“Dolls, Waverly needs to go home, she’s not feeling so good.” Wynonna slipped off the backpack and fumbled around inside for something. She pulled out the keys to Waverly’s jeep. “Can you drive?”

Waverly nodded, she could probably keep it together long enough not to have an accident.

“Woah woah, she’s not going anywhere until I know that you guys didn’t make any harmful changes whilst you were gone. A month?? Do you have any idea how much you two could have changed just by saying the wrong thing to the wrong person?”

Doll’s stepped forwards and Wynonna pushed Waverly behind her, “Hey back off,” she spat, “I said Waverly needs to go. End of discussion.”

Wynonna looked over her shoulder at her and jerked her chin. Waverly mouthed ‘thanks’ before turning to go. She had to shimmy past the body of one of Bobo’s men, the one who had been shot by Jeremy, before practically running through the open space where the front door used to be and out into the night.

===========

Waverly flicked on her bedroom light, squinting at the unpleasant brightness. She’d grown used to the warmth of candlelight during her month away. Everything was exactly as she’d left it, of course, she’d technically only been gone for a couple of hours. Still, she felt like an entirely different person now.

She pulled off her dress and stuffed it under the bed out of sight, before slipping into some pajama shorts and a baggy t-shirt.

She trudged over to her desk to switch off her lamp when she saw it. The old photo of Nicole. The photo where her eyes radiated some deep sadness that Waverly hadn’t understood before. But she understood it now. She might as well have been looking into a mirror.

She brushed her fingers over Nicole’s face, a tear dripping down onto the surface.

She turned off her lamp, crawled under the bed covers and let the flood gates open.

==========

Waverly didn’t know what day it was. She didn’t know how long she’d been in her bed. All she knew was that she wasn’t ready to get out yet.

She had known from the beginning that whatever happened with Nicole couldn’t be forever, because she was destined for someone else. But she hadn’t banked on falling in love with her, with imagining their future together and with feeling like she’d found the person that _she_ had been destined for. Was it possible to be destined for someone without them being destined for you back? It was a cruel world if that was true.

Mostly, Waverly just felt sad. Really, really sad.

She barely lifted her head off the pillow when her phone rang again. It had been ringing all morning, but she hadn’t made any attempt to answer it. If it was Wynonna, then she’d turn up in person at some point.

Wynonna had tried on several occasions to tempt Waverly from her bedroom, but every time she ended up just lying with her instead, not saying anything, just being there.

The persistent ringing was starting to grate on Waverly’s nerves, so she rolled out of bed with the intention of turning it onto silent. However, when she saw the number she frowned.

It was the museum.

She cleared her throat and tentatively lifted the phone to her ear.

“Hello?” God, she sounded awful, but maybe she could blame it on bad reception if anyone asked.

“Ah Waverly, finally! I’ve been trying to get ahold of you all morning, is everything okay?” It was Lucado.

Waverly tried make her voice sound more upbeat, but she’d never been much of an actress.

“Oh Jeannie hi! I’m so sorry, I’ve had my phone off. It was distracting me from… work.”

“Ah of course, yes I was calling about that actually, how’s the diary coming along? Any chance you’ll have it finished by the weekend?”

Waverly stared at the red diary lying on her desk. She could think of nothing she wanted to do less than read about how in love Nicole was with Winnipeg.

“Um, yes I think I only have a few pages left actually. Shouldn’t be problem.”

“That’s brilliant, I knew we could count on you Waverly. So, tell me, have you made any big discoveries?”

Waverly snorted a little, she’d forgotten she hadn’t actually told anyone other than Wynonna what the diary had been about.

“You could say that,” she replied.

“Well, I’m excited to read the translation! You must feel like you know Nicole Haught better than anyone right now!”

Waverly smiled sadly, her eyes finding the photo of Nicole again.

“I guess so.”

“Right, well I’ll let you get back to it, the diary won’t translate itself!”

Waverly hung up and placed her phone back onto the desk. She sighed as she looked at the diary, she might as well get it over with.

She fired up her laptop and pulled on her cotton gloves, before flicking to the second to last page of the diary and beginning to slowly translate the new entry.

_And so, just like all those before her, my love Miss W. Edison has decided that she would be better off without me._

Waverly frowned, rereading the sentence. Winnipeg had… left Nicole? She continued reading, sure that there must be some mistake.

_I can’t sleep without her in my arms, I can’t eat without her by my side. I feel nothing under the warmth of the sun where I used to feel such joy. When your heart beats so strongly for one and one alone, more than it has for any other, can you blame it for giving up when she goes?_

Waverly’s heart was thudding as she typed faster and faster.

_Doc tried to improve my condition by making me sit for a photograph, but I couldn’t mask the sadness that I feel in every bone._

Waverly’s eyes flickered to the photograph on her desk, finally understanding what had happened to make Nicole look that way.

_I feel as though I am drowning. Drowning in the sorrows that completely engulf me._

Waverly’s hands were shaking, she’d given Nicole up because she thought that Winnipeg and Nicole would end up together, but now it turned out that she’d left her too? She typed out the final sentence, hardly able to read it properly through the strange mix of emotions that were coursing through her.

_Let it be known that I have never loved another the way that I love Miss Winnipeg Edison._

No, that wasn’t right. Waverly frowned at the symbols which Nicole had used to write Winnipeg’s name. They were inconsistent with the rest of her code. She read over it again, slowly, making sure she translated it letter by letter.

_Let it be known that I have never loved another the way that I love Miss Waverly Edison._

==========

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DUN DUN DUUUUUN  
> If you haven't worked it out by now, I LOVE writing cliff hangers... although I imagine you guys hate them!!  
> Wow so we're really getting to the last few chapters now, but still so much is yet to come... 
> 
> If anyone is confused as to what the hell a Tombolo is, check out my twitter @Artemis_1707, I'll post a pic of the one near my house which was my inspiration. 
> 
> Huge thanks to @Earperfamily as always and to everyone who is leaving comments, kudos and spreading the word!


	13. Go get your girl

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! Hope you had a good weekend.  
> So Waverly finally knows... but what is she going to do about it? 
> 
> In case you find yourself getting confused, the POV switches between Waverly and Wynonna a few times in this chapter. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Waverly could hardly comprehend what she was reading.

She checked it again.

_Let it be known that I have never loved another the way that I love Miss Waverly Edison._

It said Waverly Edison. How could it say Waverly’s name there?

Nicole had been writing about Winnipeg Edison this whole time, hadn’t she? She was positive she had read her name in the diary.

Her hands were shaking as she pressed Ctrl F on her laptop and searched the document for all instances of ‘Winnipeg’.

_0 results found._

She tried again, this time typing ‘Edison’.

_86 results found._

She scrolled through the highlighted sections, each one the same: Miss W. Edison, Miss W. Edison, Miss W. Edison. Waverly’s heart was thumping so loudly in her ears she could hardly think straight. Was it possible that she had made a huge mistake? That when she thought Nicole was writing about Winnipeg Edison, she had actually been talking about Waverly the entire time?

She had named herself… after herself?

Waverly screwed up her face and pressed her fingers against her temples. This was obviously some ultra-realistic dream she was having; she’d wake up any second.

“Wake up Waverly!” She hit her palm against her forehead.

“Woah, what the hell are you doing?”

Waverly spun around to her door to find Wynonna stood there, a worried look on her face.

“Oh great, just what this dream needs, more characters,” Waverly whined.

“Waves what’s going on? You’re not in a dream… at least, I don’t think you are.” Wynonna looked around the room suspiciously as she walked towards Waverly and pulled her into a hug.

Wynonna sure felt solid enough.

“Wynonna, something crazy is happening,” Waverly said, her eyes wide, breathing heavy.

“Just calm down, why don’t you sit down and tell me what’s going on?” Wynonna steered Waverly towards the bed, sitting down next to her.

Waverly didn’t even know where to begin, everything was racing around inside her head so fast that she was having trouble understanding what was going on herself.

“I left Nicole for no reason.”

Wynonna gave her a sympathetic look.

“Waves, we’ve been over this. You didn’t have a choice, you couldn’t jeopardize Nicole’s future with Winnipeg.”

“That’s just it! She didn’t have a future with Winnipeg, they were never even together! All those entries weren’t about her.”

Wynonna’s eyebrows knitted together.

“But you read her name in the diary, you told me all about Winnipeg Edison.”

“No! No, I didn’t! It only ever said W. Edison. I just assumed…”

“Wait so what’s going on? There’s a third Edison? Jesus I’m going to need a chart to keep track.”

“Wynonna, she was writing about _me_.”

Wynonna started laughing, until she realised that Waverly wasn’t joking.

“Wait, you’re being serious?”

“The last thing she wrote in there was my name, my full name. Not just W. Edison, but Waverly Edison. Look it says it right there,” She got up from the bed and pointed at the last sentence in the diary.

“What and you just happened to miss that important detail the first-time round?”

“I was interrupted by _you_ before I translated the last page. I never even saw it until now.”

They stared at each other in silence. This was huge.

“Holy shit,” Wynonna murmured. “Wait, I need to make sure I’m getting this straight. You read about Nicole being in love with this W. Edison, not once seeing the name Winnipeg. We then go back in time and meet Nicole and you name yourself Edison after the chick from the diary –“

“Actually, you’re the one who said our last name was Edison,” Waverly interjected.

“Fine, I name you Edison after the chick from the diary, who actually turns out to be you anyway. You then fall in love with Nicole but leave her behind because, having read her diary, you think that W. Edison is this random Winnipeg person when in actual fact she was talking about you all along?”

Waverly rubbed her temple.

“I think so…?” she said.

“But how come you didn’t get any mega de ja vu when you were going on all these little dates with Nicole? Surely you had read about them in the diary before you had done them?”

Waverly thought back to all those hours she had spent pouring over the diary.

“She didn’t always write a minute-by-minute account, sometimes it was more thoughts and feelings, general things they did together… _we_ did together. And even if some of it did feel familiar, you can’t seriously blame me for not immediately coming to this conclusion? You’d have called me an idiot.”

Wynonna whistled.

“Damn Waverly, you could sell the movie rights for this.”

“This is my life! Shit, what am I going to do Wynonna?”

Waverly rejoined Wynonna on the bed and put her face into a pillow. All that guilt, worry and heartbreak had been for nothing, all because of some kind of monumental misunderstanding.

“Do you remember when I asked how you felt about Champ, and you didn’t know how you were supposed to feel?”

Waverly lifted her face out of the pillow to look at her sister, unsure where she was going with this.

“Do you remember what I told you?”

Waverly cast her mind back to that day, replaying their conversation to try and workout what Wynonna was talking about.

“Uh… something about, passion right?” Wynonna rolled her eyes at her. “What! I don’t remember everything you’ve ever said to me Wynonna! I’ve kind of had other things on my mind than a random conversation we had a month ago.”

“Yeah but that time I actually said something good! I believe what I said was you should feel passion, excitement, and a fire in your gut that you never want to put out. So, do you?”

Waverly grimaced. “About Champ?”

Wynonna hit Waverly’s arm.

“Why are you being so dense about this? NO obviously not that shit-ticket, I’m talking about Haught.”

Oh. Waverly didn’t need to think about it. There was no doubt in her mind that she had felt all of those things and more when she was with Nicole.

“Yes.”

Wynonna nodded in thought.

“Then go be with her.”

It was Waverly’s turn to laugh. There were so many things wrong with that plan she didn’t know where to start.

“Oh yeah, I can picture the conversation with Dolls now,” she began sarcastically, “So you know how you only have one device left? Well how about you let me use it so I can completely abandon my life here and go live in Victorian England with the woman I fell in love with in under a month.”

“Okay firstly, let me handle Dolls. Secondly, who cares that you’ve only known her a month? I was there Waverly, I saw you, you’ve never been like that with anyone before. And thirdly, who said you’d have to abandon your life here?”

“Unless you’ve changed your opinion on Victorian fashion then I doubt you’re planning on coming with me? I don’t care if I can never watch television again, but not being able to see you every day?” Waverly shook her head, she couldn’t imagine saying goodbye to Wynonna, it would be like leaving a piece of herself behind. “Last time I checked there was only one device, and it isn’t exactly working perfectly, I doubt it could sustain two people, I either have to go and not come back, or not go at all.”

“You really think BBD is just going to forget about the whole time travel thing? They’re going to be all over Jeremy to start this project up again, and when he does what’s to stop me using them to come and see you? I could visit you, you could visit me, you wouldn’t have to abandon your whole life, just… put it on pause for a bit.”

Waverly closed her eyes, feeling overwhelmed by the whole situation. Could she really have it all? Nicole and Wynonna, a new life in the past as well as her old one in the present? She thought back to the final page of the diary, and suddenly there was a new complication.

“Surely the fact that Nicole wrote those pages about me leaving shows that I didn’t go back? If I go, she won’t write those pages in the first place, and then I wouldn’t have seen them, and then I wouldn’t go back and then –“

“Waves, time isn’t as linear as people think. If you go back, and Nicole doesn’t write that last page, it’s only going to change the diary from the time _after_ you went back. And contrary to popular belief, not everything is set in stone. Sometimes it lets you make a choice, and something tells me that this is one of those times.”

Waverly’s head hurt. Time travel seemed a lot less confusing when it wasn’t playing a starring role in her love life.

“I’d have to tell Nicole the truth about us,” she murmured. How did you even start a conversation like that? ‘Hi, sorry, remember me? I actually travelled through space and time to get here from the year 2020.’

“Yeah, I think you probably would.”

“What if she doesn’t want me when I tell her?” Waverly said quietly, trying not to think about how painful it would be if Nicole told her to leave.

“Then she’s the dumbest woman on the planet Waves, and she doesn’t deserve you.” Wynonna held her hand and gave it a supportive squeeze. “Hey,” she said softly, “you don’t need to decide anything right now. You’ve got all the time in the world - that’s the beauty of time travel. Just remember, better to live a life with some risks than one full of regrets.”

She leant forwards and placed a soft kiss against Waverly’s forehead. It always helped her to feel more grounded.

“I’m going to go and see Dolls. Just promise me you’ll think about this.”

Waverly nodded, she doubted she would be able to think of much else.

==========

Wynonna pushed her shoulder against the office door and groaned as she observed the scene inside: Dolls was sat at one of the desks with about twenty sheets of paper strewn over it.

It had been three days since they’d returned from their month in England and she was _still_ filling out paperwork. She didn’t know where Dolls was getting it all from. Every time she walked in, he shoved another packet of forms under her nose. Apparently, today was no different.

“Nice of you to finally join us Earp,” Dolls looked at his watch and raised his eyebrows, “only an hour and a half late today, what’s the excuse this time?”

Wynonna sat down heavily in the chair opposite him and went to put her feet up onto the desk, before remembering that she needed to get on his good side if she was going to convince him to help Waverly.

“I went to check on Waverly actually.”

Jeremy popped his head out from behind a microscope in the corner, making Wynonna jump. The kid had a knack for blending into the machinery, she hadn’t even realised he was in the room.

“How’s she doing?” He asked, pulling off a pair of gloves and walking over to the desk, concern in his voice.

“Let’s just say she’s made an interesting discovery, and she needs your help,” Wynonna answered. She was hoping it was vague enough that she’d caught Dolls’ attention. She plucked a glazed donut from the open box and took a large bite as she waited for him to respond.

He narrowed his eyes at her, as if he was deciding whether or not to take the bait.

“What kind of discovery?”

Bingo.

“Well you know how Waverly couldn’t stay with Haught because she thought she was going to end up with someone else?”

“Yeah,” Dolls sifted through some papers before finding the one he was looking for, “Winnipeg Edison, right?”

Wynonna nodded, swallowing a particularly large piece of donut before she replied.  
“Turns out Nicole was never writing about her, she was writing about Waverly. The whole thing was a big misunderstanding.”

Dolls leaned forward in his chair, resting his elbows on the desk.

“And whilst that’s all very nice, I’m not sure what this has to do with me.”

Wynonna tossed the remainder of her donut onto the desk, and brushed her hands off against her jeans.

“You’re the only one who can authorise the use of the devices.”

“Um device, singular remember,” Jeremy chimed in unhelpfully.

Wynonna shot him an annoyed look, “yes, thank you Jeremy.” She turned back to Dolls and tried to smile sweetly, “you’re the only one who can authorise the use of the device, singular.”

Dolls sat back in his chair and crossed his arms, eyebrows raised.

“You want me to give up our last device so that Waverly can see her girlfriend again? No. No way.”

“It doesn’t even work properly! What are you going to do with it?” she argued. Dolls’ stubbornness wasn’t going to get in the way this time, she was going to win this for Waverly.

“Jeremy can fix it,” Dolls said calmly.

“Actually I –“ Jeremy began to protest but quickly stopped when Dolls glared at him.

Wynonna decided she’d need to change her approach; bribery had always served her well in the past.

“I’ll do all the paperwork for a year,” she offered, a feeling of nausea already washing over her as she thought about it.

Dolls shook his head in disbelief, “Earp, you can’t bribe me with something that is literally already your job.”

Wynonna rolled her eyes, if he really thought she would be doing more paperwork he had another thing coming.

“What do you even get out of all of this Wynonna? You’d be losing your sister.”

“Who says I’d be losing her?” she argued.

“Well you can’t go with her.”

“What if Jeremy builds some more devices?”

“That’s not your call to make.”

“Do I get a say in this?” Jeremy interjected.

“No!” Wynonna and Dolls snapped at the same time.

They were leaning closer and closer over the desk, neither of them wanting to concede to the other.

“Look me in the eye and tell me BBD hasn’t already ordered him to start rebuilding,” she challenged, refusing to break eye contact with him.

They stared at each other, before Dolls’ eyes flicked momentarily to a folder on his desk stamped as classified.

Gotcha.

Wynonna lunged forwards to snatch it from the desk, narrowly avoiding Dolls’ grabbing hands. She pushed her chair back so he couldn’t reach her and opened the folder. She glanced her eyes down the page, excitement rushing through her when she found what she was looking for.

_Agent Chetri is therefore under orders to rebuild a **minimum** of five devices, to allow the Black Badge Division to be at the forefront of the fight against time terrorism._

“Aha, he _is_ remaking them! Come on Dolls, you can’t honestly tell me you need that broken one now. Waverly does. Do you believe in soulmates Dolls? Because honestly, and I hate to admit it, that’s what Waverly and Nicole are like together. You’ve seen what she’s been like the past few days, it’s like she’s forgotten how to be happy. You are the _only_ person who has the power to change that.”

Dolls stood and snatched the folder from Wynonna’s grasp, throwing it back down onto the desk. She crossed her fingers under the desk, watching as he paced back and forth considering her words.

“Okay here’s what’s going to happen. Jeremy is going to spend some time with that device. If, and only if, he has done _everything_ he can and it still remains frozen, then I will let Waverly use it.”

Wynonna sighed in relief and grinned. Who knew the way to get something from Dolls was through his emotions? She didn’t even realise he had emotions.

“On the condition that she attends a training session first of course,” he added.

Wynonna waved away his comment, remembering her own basic training. It was boring, but definitely an extremely small price to pay considering that Waverly would get to see Nicole again.

“Oh and Earp, this is between the three of us, BBD doesn’t need to know.”

Wynonna looked at him, confused. Who was this guy and what had he done with the rule-loving Dolls? Shrugging, she turned her attention to Jeremy, who at some point had returned to his own desk.

“So, how quickly do you think those new devices will be ready? Couple of months?”

“Wynonna, we lost the hard-drive. All the calculations, the plans, everything was on there. I might as well be starting from square one. Couple of months? More like a couple of years.”

==========

Waverly had found that in the past, when she’d been faced with important decisions, the only way she could even get close to making a decision was to just put all her thoughts down onto paper, so she could see them. The process was usually highly systematic and organised, and the right answer would eventually make itself clear.

However, those decisions had all been ‘who should I take to prom?’, ‘which college should I go to?’, ‘what should my thesis be about?’, not ‘should I go back in time to be with the woman I love, tell said woman I’m from the future, and then spend my life in both the past and present?’.

Perhaps that was why when Wynonna returned at 5pm that day, Waverly was frantically pacing backwards and forwards in front of her bedroom wall where hundreds of post-it notes were stuck to it, barely legible words scribbled all over them.

Wynonna paused in the doorway, looking slightly worried as she observed the scene.

“You’ve been um… busy.”

Waverly launched herself at Wynonna, pulling her into a hug. If anyone would be able to help her decide what to do, it would be her.

“I’ve been writing down all the reasons I should and shouldn’t go,” Waverly explained, scanning her eyes over all the colourful squares of paper.

Wynonna squinted at a small piece of paper and pulled it from the wall. She turned it to Waverly, a look of disgust on her face.

“This one just says ‘Champ’.”

Waverly blushed, “yeah, that one is a reason I _should_ go.”

Wynonna snorted and stuck it back onto the wall.

“Good to know you haven’t completely lost your mind,” she quipped.

Waverly watched her as she walked along the length of the wall, tilting her head at different angles so she could read each note. She picked up another one, screwed it into a ball and threw it over her shoulder.

“Hey!” Waverly protested, as she went to retrieve the discarded note. She flattened it out and read what it said.

_Can’t see Wynonna again._

She waved it at Wynonna.

“This is a very important one, why are you throwing it away?”

“Because it’s not true,” Wynonna replied without looking at her, still reading the notes on the wall. “All I’m reading here,” she waved her hand at the wall, “are just flimsy excuses. Just forget all of this for a minute, what is the one thing that’s holding you back?”

Waverly loved Nicole, but losing Wynonna was a price she wasn’t willing to pay.

“That I’d have to choose between you and Nicole,” she said quietly.

Wynonna turned and put her hands on Waverly’s shoulders.

“So if that wasn’t an issue, you would go?”

Waverly thought for a second and then nodded. She could deal with anything else as long as she didn’t have to choose.

“Jeremy received the order to rebuild yesterday morning.”

Waverly frowned. When Wynonna had rung earlier, all she’d said was that if Jeremy couldn’t fix the device then Waverly could use it. She hadn’t mentioned that he was building any new ones.

She narrowed her eyes, there was no way that it could be that easy.

“What’s the catch?”

“Why does there have to be a catch?”

Waverly ran a hand through her hair in frustration.

“Because it can’t be this easy!”

Wynonna smiled at her, squeezing her shoulders.

“Sometimes Waverly, it just is.”

=========

It had been a week of waiting until Dolls finally accepted the fact that Jeremy couldn’t fix the device. Wynonna had burst in on her whilst she was in the shower to tell her the good news, and had then cursed profusely as if it was Waverly’s fault that she hadn’t locked the door to the bathroom in her own apartment.

In the few days which followed, Waverly had been living in a constant state of anxiety and excitement. It had finally hit her that she was going to see Nicole again. She had hardly been able to sleep, all the potential outcomes of their upcoming reunion and talk were constantly on her mind.

Nicole was extremely intellectual and open-minded, but that didn’t mean she’d be able to comprehend the fact that Waverly was from the future, and had basically spent a month not telling her that.

If Nicole never wanted to see her again, then she’d have no choice but to accept it.

Wynonna had convinced her that she should pack up her apartment and move everything that she wasn’t going to take to England back to the homestead, a task which had only partially taken her mind off the daunting conversation ahead. She also figured that Wynonna just wanted easy access to some new clothes. She hadn’t realised how much stuff she had, useless stuff which didn’t even matter, that she didn’t even use. Her time in the past had definitely put some things into perspective.

And finally, there had been the matter of the diary. Waverly had gone back and forth over what she should do about the last page. Waverly wasn’t exactly a common name, and even though it said Waverly Edison and not Waverly Earp, it would surely prompt questions from Lucado. Questions which she wouldn’t necessarily be around to answer.

However, if Wynonna was right and the diary would change after Waverly left, then the page wouldn’t exist and no-one at the museum would see it. But it would still be a gamble not to rip out the final page. Instead, she’d decided to change her translation slightly and delete the final page of translation from the document. She’d just have to hope that even if the diary didn’t change, that no-one would be double checking every word in there.

It felt strange packaging up the diary along with her translation and sending it to London. The world was about to know Nicole’s secrets. That was another thing she was going to have to tell her about.

As she left her apartment for the last time, she couldn’t help but feel like there was no way on earth Nicole would want her after this.

=========

As Waverly walked into the BBD office, her suitcase in tow, Wynonna stood from where she was leaning against a desk.

“You ready to do this baby girl?”

Waverly took a deep breath. She had to take the risk, for Nicole.

“Yeah, I’m ready.”

“Let’s run through this one more time Earp,” Dolls said, standing with his arms folded in front of her. “You’re getting there at the same time as the earlier versions of you and Wynonna, which means you’ll have about a month of lying low. Which means…?” He trailed off, waiting for Waverly to show she’d remembered what he’d told her at the training session.

“No talking or interacting with myself, Wynonna, Nicole or Doc.” She shared a look with Wynonna, they’d been over this about ten times already. She’d packed about ten books to keep her occupied.

“Exactly. Now, have you got everything? Money?”

Waverly nodded. Wynonna had managed to use some mystery contact within BBD to change some of her savings into old British pounds. Waverly was by no means rich, but it had somehow converted into a small fortune, apparently more than enough to buy her own estate if she wanted it.

“Ooo that reminds me!” Jeremy stood up from his desk where he was working on some technical drawings, Waverly assumed for the new devices. He walked over to the clothes rail and picked up a large holdall from underneath, handing it to Waverly. “Here’s some of the dresses we had that fit the era, should give you something to wear until you get some more made.” He smiled enthusiastically at her.

Waverly returned it as she readjusted her grip on the other bags so she could take it off him.

“Oh, and obviously you’ll need this,” He picked up the device from the desk and handed it to her. She fastened it around her wrist above her watch and checked that it still read the correct date, not that there was anything she could do if it didn’t.

Waverly looked at Wynonna and suddenly felt sad, she knew she would see her again soon, but that didn’t make it any easier to leave her behind. She pulled her into a hug.

“I’m going to miss you,” she mumbled into Wynonna’s neck.

“Hey, you’re going to see me in like a month, you’ve gone longer than that before.”

“Yeah and I missed you a lot then too!”

Waverly pulled out of the hug so she could look at her.

“It’ll be longer for you,” Waverly reminded her.

“Only a couple of months remember?”

“Um Wynonna?” Jeremy started.

“Not now Jeremy, we’re having a moment,” Wynonna waved him away. “Is there a way of knowing if it’s worked with Nicole or not? I need to know whether to give her a piece of my mind when I eventually show up,” she winked at Waverly, ever the protective big sister.

Waverly chewed on the inside of her cheek as she thought. She reached into her backpack and brought out the old photo of Nicole which she’d been keeping flat inside a book.

“Here, look at this and you’ll know.”

Wynonna raised an eyebrow but didn’t question it as she took the photo from her. Dolls leaned over Wynonna’s shoulder to look at it.

“Wow, she looks… depressed.”

Waverly still couldn’t really comprehend that Nicole looked that way because of her.

“Yeah. Hopefully not for long,” she said.

Wynonna smiled warmly at her and brushed her cheek with her thumb.

“Go get your girl.”

Waverly took a deep breath and hugged Wynonna one more time. She was really doing this.

“I love you,” she whispered in her ear.

“You too baby girl,” she whispered back, squeezing Waverly’s shoulders.

Waverly stepped back and nodded a goodbye at Dolls and Jeremy. She made sure she had contact with all her bags, before holding up her wrist to look at the device.

This was it.

She pressed one of the buttons and shot one last smile at Wynonna.

“I’ll see you soon!”

She closed her eyes as she felt herself being consumed by the bright white light.

=========

“Um Wynonna?” Jeremy said again once the bright light faded and Waverly had disappeared.

Wynonna sighed and turned to face him.

“What do you want?”

“You do remember me telling you that without any help, these devices are going to take a couple of _years_ to rebuild not a couple of months, right?”

Wynonna had been perfectly clear on how long it was going to take.

“Yeah, but she wouldn’t have gone if she’d known,” Wynonna sighed.

She looked down at the photograph Waverly had given her and smiled.

The image had changed.

===========

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again to everyone who is reading, leaving kudos and comments, I love reading what you think of the chapter/story in general!   
> As always thanks to @Earperfamily and come and find me on twitter @Artemis_1707 if you want to chat!
> 
> I can't believe how close this story is to done... it's honestly been so amazing to share it with everyone and I didn't expect so many people to like it, especially as it's my first time writing fic!   
> Come back on Friday to find out what happens next...


	14. Sorry Dolls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So what does Waverly get up to for a month?

Waverly landed heavily on a patch of grass, winding herself slightly. She quickly checked she still had all her bags and sighed with relief when they were all accounted for.

She shakily got to her feet, dusted off her clothes and took stock of her surroundings. She was at the edge of Nicole’s garden, where the trees met the lawn, the stream just behind her. It was already dark, but she could just make out two shapes on the ground further along the garden towards the house.

Leaving her bags where they were, she creeped forwards to get a better look.

As she got closer, she could see that it was her and Wynonna, lying unconscious on the ground. She shivered; it was like she was having an out-of-body experience. She inched forwards to get a better look. That was odd. They were wearing the clothes they had been wearing at BBD, not their dresses, and Waverly’s backpack was right there next to her.

She was almost positive that they’d been wearing the dresses when Nicole and Doc had found them. But they had obviously been in no position to change themselves, not to mention they hadn’t even brought the dresses with them.

An uncomfortable thought crossed Waverly’s mind: what if whoever had taken the bag, had changed their clothes too? She shuddered at the thought, praying that it hadn’t been Bobo. Evidently, whoever it was hadn’t done it yet.

She synced her watch to the device: 11.30pm. Nicole had said that they had discovered them around midnight. If Waverly was careful, she could hide amongst the trees and watch the situation unfold. She’d finally find out who had stolen her bag and sent them those notes.

She thought back to what Dolls had said about interfering, it couldn’t hurt just to watch right?

Her curiosity got the better of her, and she decided to wait to try and catch a glimpse of what had really happened.

However, as it got closer and closer to midnight and there was still no sign of anybody around, she got more and more nervous. What if they’d spotted her and had gotten spooked? She paced back and forth as she tried to work out what she should do. A single change in events could jeopordise everything.

At 11.50pm, Waverly was sweating. Someone had to turn up soon. They had to.

When her watch showed 11.59pm, she snapped. She would have to take matters into her own hands.

She grabbed the holdall and tiptoed over to her and Wynonna’s bodies lying on the ground. She kneeled beside Wynonna and unzipped the bag.

She reached inside and pulled out the first dress that her fingers closed around.

Waverly’s breath caught in her throat. It was the blue dress. _Her_ blue dress. The one that she had woken up in the next morning.

“What the…?”

She thrust her hand back into the bag and pulled out another one. It was Wynonna’s burgundy dress.

She sat back on her heels, trying to wrap her head around what was going on. Her eyes drifted to her backpack lying next to the other her on the ground, and an insane thought popped into her head.

No. No way.

Was it possible?

No. She was being crazy.

But was she?

She screwed her eyes shut as she argued with herself.

“It was _me_?” She gasped in disbelief.

She wished Wynonna was there to tell her she was being ridiculous. Of course she hadn’t stolen her own bag and sent herself clues to find it, that would be insane. That would be the very definition of interfering.

What would even be her motive?? What would she possibly gain from sending herself and Nicole on a wild goose chase to get the bag back? Her mind raced as she began to strip Wynonna, something which was easier said than done when that person also happened to be unconscious.

As she lifted Wynonna’s back to try and shimmy the dress over her arms, she lost her grip and Wynonna flopped back onto the ground with a thud.

“I’m so so sorry,” Waverly whispered as her fingers worked to do up the buttons. When she got to the top button, she found there was no hole for it to go into.

“Oh for gods sake,” Waverly groaned. She had missed a button at the bottom and now the top was slightly skewed.

“Well, I don’t have time to fix it now… sorry.”

Waverly stuffed Wynonna’s clothes into the holdall and crawled over to the other Waverly.

She paused to stare at her own face. This was really, really weird, even for her.

“Focus Waverly,” she muttered as she began to take the clothes off her and replace them with the blue dress, making sure not to mess up the buttons this time.

By the time she had finished she was breathing heavily. Putting that dress on herself had been hard enough, let alone trying to put it on someone else who couldn’t help.

She stood up and looked at the backpack again. She’d just have to take it now and figure out why later. She swung it over her shoulder, grabbed the holdall and ran back to where she’d left her other bags amongst the trees.

Now she had to figure out how to get Nicole and Doc to come outside. They’d mentioned some kind of note…

She unzipped her backpack and fumbled around for her notebook and a pen. She pulled them out and flicked to the first free page. Probably best to keep it short and sweet…

_PEOPLE BY THE STREAM NEED YOUR HELP._

Good enough. She tore it from the book and started out across the garden towards the front door. She’d have to do the good old knock and run. If Dolls could see her now, he’d have a heart attack. But technically, she’d already done it… otherwise she wouldn’t be here now doing it…

She shook her head. Trying to make sense of the whole past and future self situation was pointless. The less she tried to understand it, the better.

She arrived at the front step and placed the note down on the ground, wedging it under a small stone.

“Here goes nothing.”

She thumped her fist against the door as hard as she could, it would need to be loud enough to wake Nicole and Doc up.

Stepping back from the door she looked up at the windows and saw a faint glow radiating from one of them: Doc’s room. She turned and sprinted back towards the trees, praying that he didn’t come outside before she was out of sight.

Once she was back safely, she flopped down onto her suitcase and put her head between her knees, trying to get her breath back.

After a few minutes, she heard talking and sat up to see what was happening.

Waverly’s heart swelled as Nicole came into view. It felt like a lifetime since she’d last seen her, had it really only been a week and a half? She tried not to think about the fact that she wouldn’t be able to talk to her for a whole month.

As she watched Doc and Nicole making their way towards Wynonna and her past self, her mind wandered back to the bag. Why hadn’t she just left it? What was the significance of the clues?

She picked up her notebook again and wrote down ‘clue one’ near the top of the page. She tapped the pen against the page as she thought. What had happened as a result of the first note? They’d been jumped by a creepy group of men. Not good.

But then that had meant they had to stay at the inn instead of going home, and Waverly had kissed Nicole.

Of course!

Each clue had been important in their relationship, they’d helped them to break down different barriers. Without them, Waverly and Wynonna would have disappeared back to the future on day one. Waverly and Nicole would have never found each other.

She scribbled down ‘first kiss’ next to where she had written ‘clue one’. However, the thought of Nicole getting attacked made Waverly uncomfortable. Was it really necessary for her to get injured just for a kiss? It felt… wrong. Perhaps there was another way? But then, it had been so much more than a kiss. The entire situation, as terrifying as it had been, had set them up on their crazy journey together. If she changed just one thing, who knew what could happen.

She looked up and saw that Nicole was kneeling next to the other Waverly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. If she closed her eyes, she could almost feel Nicole’s fingers ghosting over her own cheek. Her mind wandered to the memories of Nicole’s fingers moving over other places…

Clearing her throat, she went back to her notes.

She wrote down ‘clue two’ and tried to remember what had happened after they’d been to Shae’s. She drew some arrows and wrote ‘jealousy’, ‘talk with Wynonna’ and ‘drunk Nicole’ next to them. After that night, they’d decided to just forget about the fact she was leaving and enjoy themselves.

Clue three didn’t require much thought; it had given them time, two of the happiest weeks of her life. All she wrote next to it was ‘love’ and doodled a little heart.

Her eyes flicked back up to the garden, and saw that Doc was carrying Wynonna back into the house, closely followed by Nicole who was carrying Waverly close to her chest.

Once the door closed behind them, she released a shaky breath. Her work for tonight was done.

She stood from her suitcase and looked at her things. Now all she had to do was drag everything into the village and find somewhere to sleep. Great.

========

Waverly yawned. Once she’d eventually found an inn in the village, she’d passed out as soon as her head hit the pillow.

Despite her late night, she still woke up at 7am, the logistics of the first clue already on her mind.

If she remembered correctly, it had been written on the title page of a book, but annoyingly, not one of the ones she had brought with her. She’d need to figure out where to find a copy of Pride and Prejudice and quick.

After breakfast, she wandered out into the village, wearing one of the other dresses which Jeremy had packed into the holdall. She vaguely recalled seeing a bookshop a few streets over and decided that would be the logical place to start.

A bell rang as she pushed open the door to the shop, the comforting smell of books wafting over her as she walked inside. There was no-one else around other than an old woman behind the counter. She smiled warmly at her before starting to look around the shop.

“Are you looking for anything in particular dear?” The old lady asked.

“Um perhaps a copy of Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen?”

The old woman thought for a second.

“That’s a popular one, if there’s any left it’ll be upstairs,” she pointed behind her to a staircase.

“Thank you.” Waverly made her way past the woman and climbed up to the next floor. There were neat stacks of books everywhere, as well as shelves covering every wall. She could’ve very easily have spent the whole day looking through everything.

As she started to scan the first stack for the book she was looking for, she heard the bell ringing downstairs; someone else must have come in.

“Good morning Miss Edison, all well with you I hope?”

Waverly froze. She’d know that voice anywhere. She turned sheepishly, wondering how she was going to get out of this one, but Nicole wasn’t stood behind her as she’d expected.

“Good morning Miss Haught!” The woman from behind the counter replied, “after a new diary already are we?”

The sound of Nicole’s laughter drifted up the stairs.

“You know me so well Winnipeg, yes, I think I’ll go with blue this time.”

Waverly blinked. The old woman downstairs… was Winnipeg Edison?

She pressed a hand over her mouth to stop herself from laughing. She’d almost hit her limit of how much ridiculousness she could take.

“Many customers this morning?” Nicole asked.

“Just you and a nice girl upstairs so far,” Winnipeg replied.

“There seems to be a few of those around at the moment,” Nicole chuckled, Waverly could almost picture Nicole’s confident smirk. Winnipeg laughed at Nicole’s comment as the cash register pinged. “Well, I’m sure business will pick up,” Nicole continued, “I’ll see you soon I’m sure Winnipeg!”

She heard the bell ringing again and moved over to the window to see Nicole walking out the shop in the outfit which she had first met her in, carrying her new diary, off to introduce herself to Waverly and Wynonna for the first time.

==========

Waverly had spent the better part of the morning looking through every bookshelf in the shop, but she hadn’t found a single copy of Pride and Prejudice. She did everything she could to try and locate the book in village, but again, no-one had it. She considered just writing it on any book she could find but decided against it. After all, her and Nicole had had an in-depth discussion about Pride and Prejudice thanks to the note, she didn’t want to risk everything just because she couldn’t find the book. And obviously she _had_ found it somewhere, otherwise the note wouldn’t have been written on it in the first place…

A combination of desperation and determination had led her here, crouched outside Nicole’s house at 3.45am.

Her eyes had flown open in the middle of the night as it had occurred to her that Nicole would have a copy.

She’d hoped that the house would be empty, what with them having gone to the bar that night, but by the time she’d gotten dressed again and made her way over to Nicole’s, the group had already returned.

She had waited outside for the lights to slowly go out one by one, signaling that everyone had finally headed off to bed, and then creeped up to the front of the house. Getting the book should be easy enough, the library was downstairs, and theoretically everyone would be upstairs in their rooms.

Waverly pushed open the front door as quietly as she could, grimacing as it creaked slightly. She paused to see if there was any sign of movement before continuing. Once inside, she picked up a candle from the entrance hall, lit it, and tiptoed her way through the house to the library.

She hadn’t realised she’d been holding her breath until she slipped inside the library and closed the door behind her. Walking over to the first shelf, she lifted the candle so she could read the titles on the spines.

She began to scan over them, praying that Nicole had a copy of the book. If she didn’t, then Waverly had no idea what she was going to do.

Her eyes fell onto a small black book with gold lettering and she gasped in excitement.

‘Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen.’

As she reached up to pull it from the shelf, she heard a sound behind her.

“Waverly? What are you doing?”

She swore under her breath and turned around, Wynonna was lying on the couch looking slightly worse for wear, squinting into the candlelight.

It had completely slipped her mind that Wynonna had passed out downstairs instead of going up to her bed that night.

“I, um,” she stuttered, “you’re dreaming Wynonna, go back to sleep.” Waverly grabbed the book from the shelf and swiftly left the room, not looking back until she had successfully gotten out the front door.

“Sorry Dolls,” she mumbled to herself as she started walking back to the inn, the book gripped tightly in her hand.

=========

Waverly hid herself as best as she could in some bushes, watching the evening’s events unfurl before her. She knew it was risky, but she wanted to make sure everything went as it should.

She’d spent the last few days recreating the clues, dropping the first one off at Nicole’s house two days ago, and the second at the inn that morning with instructions for it to be delivered to Nicole and Waverly’s room the following day.

She’d tackle getting the third clue into Shae’s garden tomorrow.

Right on cue, Nicole and the other Waverly came into view, leaning up against the wall in front of the lake. As Waverly watched them talking, she felt herself getting jealous. What she wouldn’t give to talk to Nicole right now. She rolled her eyes at her idiocy, it wasn’t like Nicole was talking to another woman.

As they continued to talk to each other, Waverly began to panic. Had they talked for this long before the group of men had turned up? She had refused to believe that she was actually meant to purposefully set the thugs onto them. That would have been a step too far. Just sending the note to get them here already felt morally questionable.

However, before she could get too worried, Waverly heard a rustling behind her and tried to flatten herself against the ground, not daring to move a muscle.

A shudder ran through her as she watched the group of four men staggering drunkenly into the clearing. She could hear the conversation clearly from where she was hidden.

“Well looky what we ‘ave here, a couple of dirty fucking Jacks.”

Waverly’s stomach dropped at the sound of their laughter, maybe choosing to relive this hadn’t been the smartest idea she’d ever had.

She blushed as they started jeering at them to kiss, remembering how rejected she’d felt when Nicole had refused. But now she knew even that detail had been important.

Once the fighting started, she hugged her knees to try and stop herself from running in and stopping them. Watching Nicole’s knee get stamped on went against every protective instinct she had.

She flinched as she saw herself get slapped hard in the face, and brought her hand up to her cheek as if she could still feel the sting.

Nicole’s head snapped backwards as she was punched again, and Waverly couldn’t help the wave of anger that washed over her.

As the man raised his foot to deliver another blow, there was nothing Waverly could do to stop herself.

“STOP!”

She immediately clapped both of her hands over her mouth, and watched wide eyed as the four men began to curse, stumbling away from the clearing and back off into the darkness.

She remained frozen in place as the other Waverly squinted in her direction before turning back to Nicole.

Once they had limped off in the direction of the inn, Waverly lay flat on her back amongst the bushes, breathing heavily. At the time, the voice who had stopped the fighting _had_ sounded vaguely familiar, but never in a million years would she have seriously guessed that it was a future version of herself that saved her and Nicole that night. Why would she? That would be crazy. But here she was. Crazy.

============

Scaling a large stone wall in a dress had been difficult to say the least. To deliver the third clue, she couldn’t just knock on Shae’s door and ask politely to go into her garden, seeing as she was set to meet her for the first time a few days later, so Waverly had decided that climbing in was her only option.

It had taken her half an hour to find a good spot, and then another twenty to actually get over it. It was a miracle that she didn’t break her ankle jumping down on the other side, she couldn’t imagine what she’d do if someone called the doctor for her and Doc showed up.

Waverly smiled as she pushed open the door to the little hut, she really did like it in here. Maybe her and Nicole could build their own at some point? She let her mind wander back to the little fantasy she’d had when she was in her the first time around; her and Nicole reading together by the fire, wrapped in a blanket and just being together.

She sighed, only two more weeks until she could be with Nicole again. If Nicole still wanted her.

As she pinned the third clue onto the mantel over the fireplace, a particularly cozy looking blanket caught her eye.

She shrugged, it’s not like Shae was using it. She grabbed it and tucked it under her arm before making her way out of the hut again.

==========

Waverly’s heart was pounding as she made her way to Nicole’s house.

Today was the day she would tell her the truth.

She had left the bag at the beach the previous day and had watched with longing as Nicole and other Waverly walked arm in arm to retrieve it. The past two weeks had been torturous; the knowledge that Nicole was so close and yet so far had played on her mind night and day. Not to mention the fact that she knew what her and Waverly were getting up to in their bedroom, the ache she felt to be touched by Nicole again was almost becoming unbearable.

Today it would stop being the other Waverly, and start being her again. As long as Nicole could handle who she really was.

As she rounded the corner, she saw a flash of blue and burgundy.

_Shit_ _shit fuck no shit._

Wynonna and the other Waverly were walking straight towards her.

She jumped back around the corner and pressed herself against the stone wall, praying that they weren’t going to walk right into her. She screwed her eyes closed. _Please please please._

“Hey Waves, I think we’re far enough away now, don’t you?”

Waverly sighed in relief as she heard Wynonna shouting. Thank god for Wynonna’s laziness. It would have been typical if she’d fallen at the last hurdle.

She chanced a peek around the corner and saw that she’d just grabbed Wynonna’s wrist. They’d be gone in 3…2…1…

She shielded her eyes from the bright light, waiting until she was sure they were really gone before continuing towards Nicole’s house.

As the house came into view, Waverly stopped in her tracks. Nicole was outside, jogging down the lane towards her. She’d come after her?

“Waverly?” Nicole called.

This was it.

Waverly ran towards her, closing the space between them.

She launched herself into Nicole’s arms, practically melting into the warmth they brought.

“God I’ve missed you,” she whispered into the crook of Nicole’s neck.

“What are you doing? Where’s Wynonna? Did you get changed?” Nicole asked, the confusion apparent in her voice.

Waverly pulled out of the hug.

“There’s something I need to tell you. And after that, if you still want me, then I’ll stay.”

==========

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there you have it, Waverly was behind it all along! A few of you predicted this from early on so well done for spotting the various clues!   
> Only one chapter left now!! ...or is there...   
> Come back Tuesday for the next chapter i.e. the reunion! How will Nicole take the news?
> 
> Thank you to @Earperfamily and if you want to chat to me about the fic or about anything really then I'm @Artemis_1707 on twitter :) 
> 
> As always thank you so much for all your kudos and please leave comments! They really make a boring day feel so much better!!


	15. What the -

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone who has been on this fic journey with me, it's been overwhelming to see the response, especially in the last couple of weeks as more and more people have been discovering it! 
> 
> So how will Nicole take the news?  
> Will we see Wynonna any time soon?

“Is Doc still here?” Waverly asked, chewing her lip nervously.

“No, he went out to see some patients. Why, has something happened to Wynonna?” Nicole frowned, the worry apparent on her face.

“She’s fine. This’ll be easier without him here.”

“Okay, now you’re really starting to freak me out Waverly.”

Waverly had led Nicole back into the house and to the library without saying a word. She’d held her hand tightly; there was a very real chance that she wouldn’t be able to again. Now Nicole was sat on the couch watching her pace back and forth in front of the window.

What she said next would decide everything. Please, if there was anyone listening, don’t let her fuck this up.

She stopped in front of her and took a deep breath.

“My last name isn’t really Edison, it’s Earp.” Best to start small and work her way up to ‘I’m from the future’.

“What?” Nicole said in surprise, her eyebrows shooting upwards.

Ohhh boy, if a fake last name was already surprising then she might as well leave now. Maybe if she just said everything really fast then Nicole wouldn’t have a chance to freak out at every new piece of information.

“My real name is Waverly Earp. Time travel is possible; me and Wynonna came here from about 200 years in the future. I was tasked with translating your ‘special’ diary by a museum who has the rest of your diary collection because you’re kind of important in women’s history. I knew all about you before I came here, I knew all about Shae, and I knew all about someone called W. Edison. We travelled here by accident thanks to an explosion, some time travel devices and Bobo Del Rey, remember him?”

Waverly didn’t wait for Nicole to respond before continuing. The words were flooding out so quickly she wasn’t even sure they made sense.

“Our devices burnt up, the spare ones were in my bag, the bag went missing, funny story about that later, and Wynonna stupidly told you our last name was Edison, having remembered it from the diary. I fell in love with you even though I knew I shouldn’t have, and I knew I had to leave because I couldn’t jeopardise your future with W. Edison, who I thought was Winnipeg Edison. When I got back and finished translating your diary, I saw _my_ name in there, not Winnipeg’s. I was W. Edison, and frankly, I realised that leaving you had been the biggest mistake I’ve ever made. So here I am, hoping that you can find a way to understand all of this and still want me. Because you’re it for me Nicole, I don’t want anyone else.”

Waverly breathed heavily as she stared at Nicole. There was no taking it back now.

“Oh, and I’m Canadian,” she added, as if that was an important detail.

Nicole was frozen on the couch, her brow furrowed. She was staring at Waverly, but it was like she wasn’t seeing her. A muscle in her cheek was twitching.

Oh god. She’d broken her. Her brain was short-circuiting.

She moved towards her but stopped when Nicole held up a finger.

“Just… give me… a minute…”

Waverly sat down warily next to her on the couch and waited for her to speak again.

=========

A minute had turned into over an hour of silence. Waverly had resorted to getting a book from the shelf and trying to read it just to try and pass the time. Every now and again she would look up to check on her, but she hadn’t moved an inch.

Nicole suddenly stood from the couch and left the room. Waverly remained seated, unsure what she was supposed to do.

A few moments later, she heard a loud repetitive thudding, as if something was being dragged down the stairs.

Nicole returned to the library, pulling the heavy trunk that was usually at the end of her bed along with her. She flipped open the top and started to throw books from inside onto the couch. They all looked like diaries, various shades of greens and blues, as well as the single red one on top.

“Why are these in a museum? I’m ‘important for women’s history’??" Nicole laughed, but there was no humour in it. "Is my life some kind of joke that people hundreds of years from now laugh about as they warn little girls about the dangers of daring to be different?” she said bitterly.

Waverly suddenly realised that Nicole hadn’t understood what she’d meant. She thought the only way she would be famous was as a cautionary tale.

“Nicole, they’re in a museum because your life is _celebrated_. You don’t understand how amazing the things that you do are. Where I come from, things have changed, life is different. Women are free to do anything, they can study, they can work, they can be with whoever they want. The things you’ve done and written in these diaries paved the way for that. Believe me, no-one is laughing at you.”

Nicole grabbed the red diary from the top of the pile, still angry.

“And will they celebrate now that you’ve told the world about what’s in here?”

“People like you and me? In the future there’s a whole community of people across the world who celebrate love for what it is: love. If anything, you’ll probably be celebrated _more_ after this.”

She threw the diary back into the trunk and slammed the lid shut.

“I can’t believe you’ve read it! It was written in code for a reason!”

Waverly stood from the couch to defend herself, that was one part of the story which wasn’t really her fault.

“You’d been dead for 200 years! It’s not like I knew you Nicole! Or even imagined beyond my wildest dreams that I would meet you, let alone _love_ you! I didn’t even know time travel existed, I was just doing my job.”

“Why didn’t you tell me any of this before? I practically bared my soul to you! Was anything you told me about you even the truth?” Nicole ran a shaking hand through her hair, the other clenched by her side.

“Of course it was! But I thought you were destined for somebody else! What would have been the point in telling you about this before when I knew I would be leaving? This whole time I’ve just been trying to protect you and not mess up your whole future.”

“This is too much Waverly, I can’t…”

She sat down heavily on the couch and put her head in her hands. Waverly shuffled closer and crouched down in front of her.

“I know this is a lot to take in,” she said gently, “I can’t even begin to imagine what this must be like. If you want me to leave, then I get it. You never have to see me again if you don’t want to.” She had to force herself to say the last bit, the thought of never seeing Nicole again was physically painful.

When Nicole didn’t respond she hung her head, accepting that maybe this was always how it was going to go. She stood and went to step away but felt fingers wrap around her wrist.

Nicole looked up at her with watery eyes.

“Please, don’t. Don't leave me again Waverly. I just... I just need time to think.”

Waverly nodded. Perhaps there was still a small shred of hope after all.

“When… _if_ you feel like talking, I’ll be here.”

Nicole nodded curtly and then closed her eyes and leaned back into the couch as Waverly made her way out of the room and up to her old bedroom.

==========

It was 10pm when Waverly heard a quiet knock on her door. Honestly, she hadn’t expected a visit so soon. She’d spent her day watching Nicole pacing outside through her window.

Nicole appeared in the doorway, shifting her weight nervously from foot to foot. She was wearing a vest and trousers combo, a personal favourite of Waverly’s. She tried to swallow down the urge to leap up and kiss her, Nicole definitely wasn’t here for that.

“I have some questions.”

Waverly tried to give her a supportive smile and gestured for her to sit on the bed. This was definitely a step in the right direction.

“There’s just some things that I need to get straight in my head,” she began slowly. “Well, a lot of things, but some are more important than others.” She cleared her throat, a small crease forming between her eyebrows. “So, you were employed to translate one of my diaries for a museum and you learnt about my romantic… adventures, including those with someone called W. Edison?”

Waverly nodded.

“And by some coincidence you and Wynonna ended up here by travelling through… time and space, and you met me, the person you’d been studying.”

She nodded again. Nicole puffed out her cheeks as she released a breath.

“And when you said your last name was Edison and I asked if you were related to Winnipeg Edison, you assumed that is who I had written about?”

Waverly blushed at the memory, it all seemed so ridiculous now that she had actually met Winnipeg at the book shop.

“Yes.”

A small smile played on Nicole’s lips.

“But if you thought I was going to end up with someone else, why did you let yourself get involved with me in the first place?”

Waverly scoffed, “Do you think I had any control over this?” she gestured between the two of them. “Believe me, I tried to resist it. But there was nothing I could do, I was already in too deep. All I could do was try and make sure I didn’t mess up your future more than I already had.”

“That’s why you were reading my diary after we kissed? To find out if I was already with the person you thought I was going to end up with?”

“Yeah. Kind of backfired though didn’t it?”

Nicole chuckled and smoothed a hand over her chin in thought.

“And of course you didn’t see what I had already written about you, because I hadn’t translated it into the diary yet. It was still on some loose pages in my jacket.”

Waverly shook her head. The number of strange coincidences and miscommunications that had made this all possible were somewhat mind-boggling.

“So, here’s a bit I don’t understand: who took your bag and wrote all the clues? What did they gain from doing that? I just can’t wrap my head around…why.”

Well, now she was screwed. Just because she had done it, didn’t mean she understood it.

She cleared her throat.

“Well, um so remember earlier when I said there was a funny story about that?”

Nicole frowned and nodded.

“So when I found out that you had been writing about me all along, I got the last device and jumped back here to a month ago, to when myself and Wynonna had arrived the first time around. Long story short, it was me who did all that stuff.”

“… wait so… hang on… what?”

“Believe me, my head still hurts from trying to work it out and I’ve lived through it,” Waverly chuckled nervously. “I thought it had been someone else, but when I got here it was obvious no-one else was coming. I knew what I had to do because… it had already happened?”

Nicole still looked extremely lost, understandably so.

“But… what was the point?”

“Each time we did something to do with a clue, it led to some kind of breakthrough with… us. If I hadn’t done it, _we_ wouldn’t have happened.”

Nicole screwed her eyes together and fell back onto the bed so she was lying down.

“My brain hurts,” she muttered.

Waverly lay down next to her and looked up at the ceiling.

“You and me both.” She’d had plenty of time to think about the situation, and she couldn’t help but feel guilty. “Do you not feel… manipulated?” she said in a small voice. What if Nicole wouldn’t have fallen for her if she hadn’t created all those situations?

Nicole turned her head so she was looking at her. “Waverly, I meant what I said before. I wanted you before I even knew you, before any of that other stuff with the clues happened. But at least this way, you got me to admit it. So no, I don’t feel manipulated, I kind of feel… grateful? Is that stupid? I get why you lied. It took me all day, but I think I understand. And whilst I don’t necessarily agree with it, I know you didn’t really have a choice. And at the end of the day it came from you wanting to protect me, and honestly, I probably would have done the same thing if our roles were reversed.”

They stared at each other for a few moments as the feelings of doubt began to slowly disappear.

“Can you tell me the truth now?” Nicole asked quietly. Waverly wasn’t sure what she was referring to.

“About what?” She murmured in response.

“You. The real you.”

Waverly smiled to herself, now _that_ was something she could do.

=========

Wynonna was flicking through the channels on the TV and eating a donut when there was a knock at the front door. Who the hell was bothering her at 3.30pm on a Saturday? She begrudgingly heaved herself up from the cushions and went to investigate.

Stood in the doorway was a man dressed in a shirt which said ‘Canada Post’ in small letters over the chest.

“I have a special package for Wynonna Earp.”

She narrowed her eyes at him, she didn’t remember ordering a stripper.

“Who sent it?”

He smiled at her and handed her a small square packet wrapped in brown paper which looked like it was a hundred years old. Oh, so not a stripper then. Honestly, she was a little disappointed.

“I’m afraid I don’t know that ma’am, all I know is that it’s been with us for a real long time, sent from England with special instructions to deliver it to this exact time and place. You got distant family over there?”

Wynonna frowned as she took the package.

“No.”

“Oh, well have a good-“

Wynonna absentmindedly kicked the door closed, still staring at the package. The handwriting on the front was faded, but she would recognise it anywhere. Waverly.

She tore open the paper and found a small black pouch inside, along with a letter.

The paper felt extremely fragile, and she unfolded it carefully to avoid tearing it.

_17/07/1848_

_Dear Wynonna,_

_It took me a while to figure out how I could contact you, but then I remembered that episode of Doctor Who where she gets sent back in time by the weeping angels and then sends a letter to the present by passing it down through her family and making sure it gets delivered at a certain time and place. Anyway, I kind of took that idea and ran with it, so I guess if you’re reading this then it worked. And that in itself is mind-blowingly cool._

_Anyway, I told Nicole everything. In the grand scheme of things, she took it pretty well. It only took two days for her to kiss me again, so I’m considering that a win. She was more surprised about the fact that her diaries were in a museum than the idea that time travel was possible. Doc was also surprisingly blasé about the whole thing when I finally told him. Can you believe these two?_

_Nicole seems strangely excited by the prospect of you coming back, Doc too *wink wink*. Honestly, I think she just wants her sparring partner back. She suggested that sending you my device could speed up Jeremy’s re-build, it doesn’t work but he could use it as a template or something? Couple of months could become a couple of weeks? I put it in the pouch to try and protect it, hopefully it hasn’t been too damaged in the 200 years between us._

_Wynonna, I’m so happy. I know that’s a boring way to describe it, but I just feel like I’ve been living half a life, and now I’m finally whole. And I know this should all feel rushed and we're moving at the speed of light here but everything just feels easy, familiar. There’s still just a tiny piece missing though i.e. you._

_I miss you so much, hurry up and get your ass here. Also, can you bring one of your baseball caps? Nicole is refusing to believe that any hat could beat the top hat and I am so ready to prove her wrong._

_I can’t wait to see you again, you better be keeping out of trouble._

_Love you,_

_Waves xo_

_p.s. I found out who stole my bag and wrote the clues, but I’ll save that for when I see you in person, it’s a real mind-fuck._

Wynonna grinned uncontrollably as she put the letter down onto the kitchen counter. She didn’t think it was possible to love someone as much as she loved Waverly, even if she was a giant nerd sometimes. Everything had worked out. Somehow Nicole’s head hadn’t exploded.

She picked up the small black pouch and tipped the contents into her palm, catching Waverly’s device.

_Holy shit._

She pulled her phone out of her pocket and dialed.

“Hey, Jeremy? I’ve got something for you that I think you might like.”

==========

“I don’t believe you.”

“I swear I’m telling you the truth!”

Waverly and Nicole were lying in the garden, soaking in the last of the evening sun. Their limbs tangled together lazily as they bickered. Waverly couldn’t remember a time she’d felt more content with her life; their last few weeks together had been pure bliss.

“People can talk to each other without being in the same room?”

“For the 100th time Nicole, yes. There are these little machines that people carry around with them and they’re called telephones.”

Nicole narrowed her eyes at her and grinned. She snaked her arm around Waverly’s waist and pulled her closer to her on the blanket. Moving their faces together so their lips were almost touching, she whispered, “If I find out you’re pulling my leg, then there will be hell to pay.”

Waverly grinned and leaned in to close the gap, but Nicole rolled out of the way so that Waverly was left alone on the ground.

“Hey!”

“If you can catch me you can kiss me!” Nicole challenged playfully over her shoulder as she dashed towards the stream at the bottom of the garden.

Waverly shook her head and laughed, Nicole had basically just invented kiss chase.

She rolled onto her knees and pushed herself up off the ground, before jogging in the general direction Nicole had headed. She’d disappeared over the stream and into the trees, and Waverly had lost sight of her.

She pushed aside a few branches, but couldn’t see her anywhere amongst the green and brown.

“Nicole?”

Suddenly a flash of red jumped out beside her and put her hands over Waverly’s eyes so she couldn’t see anything.

“I have a surprise for you,” Nicole said excitedly into Waverly’s ear and started to guide her forwards through the woods.

Waverly laughed and tried to pull Nicole’s hands off her eyes but she wouldn’t budge.

“If I hit a tree because of you then I am going to be so mad,” she tried to sound threatening but she was smiling too much to pull it off.

“Stop being dramatic,” Nicole laughed, “it’s only a couple more steps.”

Waverly hesitantly took a few more steps and halted when Nicole pulled back on her face a little.

“Oookkaaay, and tah-dah!”

Nicole’s hands were suddenly gone from her eyes and she blinked at the sudden brightness.

Waverly frowned. What the hell? That definitely hadn’t been there before.

She turned to Nicole who was grinning stupidly, with a look which she hoped conveyed how utterly confused she was. How had she… _when_ had she…?

Nicole’s smile faltered.

“You don’t like it?”

All Waverly’s feelings bubbled to the surface, she felt like laughing and crying at the same time. No-one had ever gone to such lengths for her before.

She surged forwards and crushed her lips to Nicole’s, they stumbled back a few paces and almost tripped on a tree root.

Her heart was practically bursting with love.

Nicole had built Waverly her own little round hut.

==========

## The Life and Loves of Nicole Haught 

### Entertainment Weekly

_Today, we’re talking about the new BBC drama that already has a huge fanbase after their first trailer aired last weekend. Catherine Barrelo stars in the series which follows the diaries of businesswoman, doctor and scholar Nicole Haught, born in 1820, England, and her various relationships, focusing on that with the mysterious American-born W. Edison, played by Dominica Provo-Chaulklie. It had been previously speculated that Haught was married to her mentor Doctor John Henry Holliday (Tom Rozin) but the recent discovery and subsequent translation of a new diary by historian Waverly Earp has proved an amazing addition to Lesbian history._

Wynonna switched off her phone, that was the fifth article about them that she’d read today alone, and reading about them just made her want to be with them even more.

She couldn’t wait to tell Waverly and Haught that they were basically celebrities now. Nicole would absolutely hate it, and Waves would love it. Nicole had been crowned as the first example of the ‘modern lesbian’ and the internet had practically exploded. If people hadn’t known who Nicole Haught was before, then they definitely did now.

And it wasn’t just Nicole, everyone was clamouring to know more about the mysterious W. Edison who had turned up one day and captured Nicole’s heart. Apparently, there was even a whole team at the museum dedicated to investigating who exactly W. Edison was. Little did they know they already knew her and had even employed her. Wynonna would never stop feeling smug about that little fact.

The fans were begging for someone to find a photograph or a painting of the two of them, numerous twitter accounts had already dedicated themselves to the task. But as far as Wynonna knew there were none, other than the one that she had kept secretly hidden at the homestead.

Every time she got home from a particularly bad date (sure, she still maybe had something going with Doc, but he lived 200 years in the past and a girl has to eat), she would get the photo out and look at it. Waverly and Nicole looked so in love that it gave Wynonna a little bit of hope, as well as the sudden urge to throw up.

The surprise return of Waverly’s device had been a huge help, and Wynonna had finally let herself get excited. It had drastically accelerated Jeremy’s timeline, instead of two years, she’d only had to wait six months. Of course, she would only be visiting. She still had a job with BBD to do, and she had to be discreet about her personal use of the device, but frankly, she couldn’t give two shits about that, because she was going to see Waverly again. And as much as she hated to admit it to herself, she’d really missed Haught and Doc too.

She looked back at her phone when her screen lit up, Jeremy’s face filling it.

“Hey nerd, what’s up?”

“Wynonna, it’s ready.”

========

Nicole and Waverly were both sat up in their bed together, reading. Nicole had one of her arms wrapped around Waverly’s shoulders, pulling her into her side. Earlier that afternoon they’d had their photograph taken, the one which would hopefully still be in Wynonna’s possession, letting her know that everything had turned out perfectly.

It was the calm moments like these that Waverly cherished. Those moments where they didn’t need to speak to each other to know that they were enjoying the other’s company. A line that she had read in Nicole’s diary all those months ago came back to her then and she smiled. She looked up at Nicole’s face, and studied it, watching as her eyes moved from left to right over and over.

“You’re staring at me again,” Nicole said without taking her eyes away from the page. Waverly leaned up and placed a soft kiss at the base of her jaw.

“I was just thinking,” Waverly began. The corner of Nicole’s mouth tugged up into a smirk as she closed her book and placed it on the bedside table.

“That’s dangerous, imagine what would happen if all the women started thinking,” Nicole teased as she slid down the headboard so her head was on the pillow, pulling Waverly with her. Waverly playfully hit Nicole’s chest.

“I was just thinking,” she repeated, “about something you said in your diary.”

Nicole glanced at Waverly out of the corner of her eye, suspicious as to where she was going with this.

“Something good or something bad?” she asked cautiously, “because if it’s something bad, then it’s your own fault for reading it.”

Waverly grinned and planted another kiss against Nicole’s skin, this time at the top of her shoulder.

“Definitely good,” she murmured.

Nicole turned on her side so they were face to face once more, and nuzzled her nose against Waverly’s.

“And are you planning on telling me what it was that I said that is oh-so good?”

“Maaaaybe” Waverly dragged out the word playfully.

“What have I got to do for you to tell me?” Nicole leaned closer still, so their lips were almost touching.

“I can think of a few things.”

=========

“ _Shit_ Nicole,” Waverly moaned loudly. She could do this all day and would never get over how hot-as-hell amazing it felt.

Nicole had her pushed up against the wall of her bedroom, their clothes discarded in various piles around the room. Nicole’s fingers were pressing down onto her, over the top of her underwear, teasing at the edges of the material.

“Tell me,” Nicole breathed heavily as she kissed the skin underneath her ear, sending a shiver down Waverly’s spine.

“No,” she managed to reply, before Nicole covered her mouth with her own, pulling gently on her bottom lip.

In one swift movement, Nicole lifted her off the floor, and Waverly instinctively wrapped her legs around her waist as she walked her over to the bed.

As they lay down, slotting together in one well-rehearsed movement, Waverly’s resolve crumbled.

“Okay okay, I’ll tell you,” she panted. Nicole lifted herself off of Waverly so she was hovering over her, a smug look on her face.

“You said in your diary that you thought I would make the perfect wife…”

“Oh… Waverly I…” Nicole stuttered, suddenly flustered. Obviously that had not been what she was expecting to hear.

“Shh,” Waverly brushed her fingers over Nicole’s cheek and settled them around the back of her neck. “I was just going to say, that I think you would make the perfect wife too… someday.”

The look Nicole gave Waverly then was one of pure adoration. 

"I love you so much, you know that don't you?" Nicole whispered. 

"Oh, I think I remember reading that somewhere," Waverly teased. 

She gasped as Nicole’s fingers slipped under her waistband and began to rub slow, sensual circles over her, and their mouths crushed together hungrily.

There was a small crackling sound coming from somewhere in the room, but Waverly was too distracted to pay it much attention. The things she was feeling right now? Whatever else was happening could wait.

She was suddenly blinded by a bright white light. Well this was new. Maybe she’d reached some kind of next level orgasm.

“What the-“

“Oh my god!”

“HAHAHAHAHA”

When the spots finally cleared from Waverly’s eyes, she almost had a heart attack. Nicole made a wild grab for the duvet to cover them both and ended up falling off the side of the bed.

Wynonna was stood at the end of their bed, tears of laughter streaming down her face.

“Guess this isn’t a good time?”

==========

TWO MONTHS LATER

Waverly fastened the device around her wrist, input their destination and flipped the face closed.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Waverly asked for the millionth time. She knew that this was a huge step for Nicole, and she didn’t want her to go through with it if she wasn’t ready.

Nicole just rolled her eyes and grinned. She leaned into Waverly and rested their foreheads together.

“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life,” she murmured.

“Not even me?” Waverly pouted.

Nicole placed a soft kiss against Waverly’s lips.

“Apart from you,” she winked as she closed her fingers around Waverly’s wrist.

Waverly couldn’t help the last minute panic she felt. What if doing this messed up history somehow?

“Stop worrying,” Nicole said calmly, as if she were reading her mind.

“But-“

“Wynonna said it’d be fine so long as we come back to the same point in time.”

Waverly quirked an eyebrow, “And we’re just trusting Wynonna without question?”

Nicole grinned, “When it means I get something I want, then yes.”

“Ugh okay fine, let’s do this. Whatever you do, don’t let go,” Waverly instructed as she reached over with her other hand to press the button.

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

A sudden flash of white light enveloped the both of them, and they disappeared into thin air.

========

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SURPRISE! There is one more chapter still to come! 
> 
> This was originally the end, and then I realised that that was probably the meanest thing ever, so I whipped up a fun chapter for you guys.  
> It will be up on Friday! 
> 
> Thank you to @Earperfamily as always and I always love talking to earpers on twitter so come find me @Artemis_1707.
> 
> And thank you to anyone who's taken the time to leave a kudos or comment, I love reading them so much!


	16. Do you want to learn our customs or not?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I can't believe this is the last chapter!  
> It has been so awesome to share my work with everyone and the response has been amazing! 
> 
> This chapter somehow turned into more of a fun Wynaught thing, but I love it all the same! [WARNING: it's ridiculous]

“So, I just push that lever down and that’s it?” Nicole asked, her brow furrowed.

Waverly had to really fight back the smile that was threatening. She knew this must all be so overwhelming for Nicole, but really, seeing someone concentrating so hard whilst looking at a toilet was extremely bizarre.

She reached out her hand and tenderly squeezed Nicole’s fingers.

“I’ll be right outside if you need any… help,” Waverly’s lips quivered as she desperately tried to hold in her giggles. Nicole narrowed her eyes at her and scrunched up her mouth in disapproval.

“You’re laughing at me.”

Waverly opened her mouth in shock, pretending to be offended and placed a hand over her chest.

“I would never!”

Nicole huffed before ushering Waverly out of the bathroom and shut the door in her face, leaving her stood outside, her nose only an inch away from the wood.

“Nicooooole, baby,” Waverly whined, already feeling bad for teasing her so early on. They’d materialized right in front of the bathroom and so naturally it had been the first stop in their tour of the homestead.

“Let me pee in peace!” She heard Nicole call from the other side, as the toilet lid hit the back of the tank. Waverly turned so her back was against the door and looked around her new bedroom as she waited for Nicole to re-emerge. Wynonna had set up all of Waverly’s things at the homestead in anticipation of their arrival, and admittedly she’d done a good job of decorating. There were a few photographs dotted around, with one in particular catching her eye. She made her way over to it, picking up the frame from the nightstand.

She smiled as she looked down at the photo of Nicole and Wynonna laughing together at the side of the boxing ring at Doc’s bar. On one of her visits, Wynonna had brought Waverly’s camera along with her, much to the fascination of Doc and Nicole. They’d both studied it for hours and had practically begged Waverly to let them take it apart. Of course, she had refused, it had been a present from Uncle Curtis on her 18th birthday and just because they could take it apart, didn’t mean they could put it back together again.

Waverly heard the toilet flush and what she thought was Nicole saying ‘remarkable’. She grinned, it still hadn’t quite settled in that Nicole was really here, in Purgatory, in the present.

The door to the bathroom opened and Nicole shuffled out, taking in the bedroom for the first time. Her eyes were wide as she scanned every inch of space. It seemed to suddenly hit her where they were.

“I feel like I’m on a different planet,” she mumbled, frowning at Waverly’s laptop which was on the desk. Waverly could see the beginnings of panic in Nicole’s eyes, as they flickered from one object to the next.

Waverly stepped forwards and placed her palm against Nicole’s cheek. What she needed right now was comfort, familiarity, something to ground her.

“Hey,” Waverly said softly, “it’s okay, if this is too much…”

As much as she had been looking forward to showing Nicole everything about her modern-day life, she’d go back to England in an instant if that’s what Nicole needed.

Nicole’s eyes fluttered closed at the contact.

“No. I can do this. I just… can we take this slow?”

“How about this,” Waverly began, brushing her fingers through Nicole’s hair and tucking a strand behind her ear. “today, we just stay in here, and I’ll show you all the bedroom has to offer, and then tomorrow we’ll tackle the rest of the house. We don’t even need to go outside if you don’t want to. You’re calling all the shots here Nicole.”

Nicole cracked one of her eyes open, the playful glint shining in them that Waverly loved so much.

“Convenient that you want to keep me in the bedroom,” Nicole grinned, and Waverly felt the oh-so-familiar fire in her gut. Even after half a year together, Nicole somehow still managed to turn Waverly on as quickly as if it was the first time.

“It’s almost like it was part of my master plan,” Waverly teased, standing on the tips of her toes so she could plant a kiss on Nicole’s lips. Nicole leaned down into Waverly, snaking her hand over her hips in the way that she knew drove Waverly crazy.

Just then, a ringing sound filled the room, and Waverly whipped her head around to try and locate the source. The screen on her laptop had lit up and Wynonna’s inappropriate skype icon of her taking body shots off a stripper in Greece was flashing.

Nicole’s hands dropped from Waverly’s side and her lips parted in disbelief.

“What the…” she stuttered, a deep crease between her brows.

So much for taking this slow.

“Remember what we talked about? People being able to talk even though they’re not physically in the same space?”

Nicole’s eyes flicked back down to meet Waverly’s and she blinked.

“Yes, um tel – ee – phones?” Nicole sounded the word out slowly, unsure as to whether she was saying it right.

Waverly smiled supportively and led Nicole over to the desk. “Exactly! Well, sometimes, you can also see the person at the same time.” She hit the enter key on her laptop and Wynonna’s face popped up onto the screen.

“Heyooo!” Wynonna called excitedly from what looked like her desk at BBD. “Haught, you made it!!”

Nicole peered around the back of the laptop, as if she was expecting to see the rest of Wynonna’s body there, and then back at the screen.

“It’s like magic,” she whispered, an excited glint in her eye replacing the look of worry which had been there before.

“You can talk to her if you want,” Waverly encouraged, sitting down onto half the chair and pulling Nicole down next to her.

“H-E-L-L-O, W-Y-N-O-N-N-A!” Nicole leaned her face close to the screen, speaking incredibly slowly and loudly.

Waverly laughed and pulled Nicole back away from the camera.

“Jesus Nicole, you don’t need to shout!” Wynonna was grimacing on the screen, but there was humour in her voice.

“Just talk normally baby, as if she was in the same room,” Waverly grinned, placing her hand on Nicole’s thigh. “I can tell her to go if this is too much too fast?”

“No no, it’s fine, it’s great, it’s a miracle!” Nicole said excitedly and Waverly’s heart warmed at the sight.

“Alright calm down, it’s just Skype, it ain’t no baby Jesus.” Wynonna rolled her eyes.

“When are you home?” Waverly asked.

“Pfft if Dolls isn’t being a dick then probably around 5. How’s the house tour going?”

“We only got here about 5 minutes ago, we were planning on taking it slow…” Waverly trailed off, hoping Wynonna understood that she’d put a spanner in the works.

Wynonna smirked, “Nahh Haught can take it, can’t you?”

“It would appear so,” Nicole grinned, still speaking louder than was necessary.

“Ooo if you’re in Waverly’s room get her to show you her box of photos that she thinks no-one knows about, I put them under the bed, it is _full_ of juicy –“

“Ooookay Wynonna, see you later!” Waverly shut the lid of her computer, red flooding her cheeks.

“What? Where did she go? Did you just trap her in there? Is she okay?”

“She’ll be fine,” Waverly mumbled as she dragged Nicole up from the chair. “Now where were we on that bedroom tour?”

==========

“Are you sure you don’t have anyone else who can cover it?” Waverly tapped her foot against the kitchen floor as she held her phone to her ear, watching Nicole pile toppings onto a stack of pancakes which would _definitely not_ taste good together. After asking Waverly a million and one questions about the pancake making process and the properties of a stove that enabled instant heat, she had practically emptied the Homestead’s cupboards and fridge of all jars and bottles, and spread them across the table in front of her plate. “No, no, it’s fine, I’ll be there. I think I still have my uniform somewhere. I’ll see you at three Shorty.” Waverly put her phone down on the table and huffed in annoyance. All Shorty’s usual staff were off with some kind of stomach bug, and now Waverly had been drafted in for a Saturday shift, despite the fact she hadn’t worked there in two years.

“Is everything okay?” Nicole asked as she speared a square of pancake and tipped some Sriracha sauce onto it, before putting it into her mouth and chewing enthusiastically. She swallowed, and then scribbled something down on a piece of paper next to her, taking a second to marvel at the ballpoint pen for the 10th time that morning.

“I have to go to work for a while, everyone else is off sick,” she said as she sat down in the chair next to Nicole and slid the paper over so she could read what it said.

“Translation work?” Nicole asked before swigging from her glass of orange juice.

“No, unfortunately not,” she sighed, “it’s at a place I used to work for, a bar in town. Much less intellectually stimulating.”

She scanned her eyes down the page, Nicole had created a complex looking table and scoring system for every combination which she was trying.

“You know you could just ask me what tastes good, I could have saved you from the horror that was,” she picked out a combination from the list, “pancake with Nutella, Mayonnaise and Soy Sauce. Ugh seriously Nicole?”

Nicole grinned as she popped another piece in her mouth, this time with a generous amount of squirty cream. She shrugged, talking in between chews, “how will I learn anything if you just tell me everything. I need to make the mistakes for myself. Although I do regret that particular combination.” She hummed in pleasure as she swallowed. “Mhmm now _that_ one is a keeper.”

Waverly couldn’t help but smile. Nicole was really taking this in her stride. After the initial wariness of the day before, she’d woken up this morning with a burning desire to just learn everything she could. It had been like waking up with a child on Christmas morning: intense excitement from the second her eyes had opened.

“I have to be there three ‘til close, so I’ll get Wynonna to keep you company?”

Nicole leaned forwards and kissed the tip of her nose.

“Sounds perfect. Do I get to see you hard at work? I’m intrigued.”

“Are you sure it won’t be too overwhelming to leave the house? Maybe you should wait –“

“Waverly, I’ll be fine. Honestly, stop worrying. Yes okay, this is all very new and definitely a lot to get my head around. But for the most part, it’s just so _exciting._ ”

Waverly knew Nicole had a thirst for knowledge, it’s what had driven her to travel around the world for so many years, but to actually see it, how full of life it made her, it made Waverly fall in love with her even more.

“Okay okay, you can come and see me, probably best to come near to closing time though, not sure I can watch you leaving without me,” Waverly said, sliding her chair closer to Nicole’s and resting her chin on her shoulder.

Nicole wrapped her arm around Waverly’s shoulders and peppered kisses on the top of her head, working her way down, the hot breath tickling against Waverly’s ear made her giggle.

“What makes you think _I_ could leave without _you_?”

“No PDA before 10am guys come on,” Wynonna walked sleepily into the kitchen, yawning as she pulled on a sweatshirt over her vest.

Nicole and Waverly made no effort to pull apart, instead Waverly simply rested her cheek against Nicole’s shoulder as she watched Wynonna pour herself a cup of coffee and sit down at the table.

“Nice PJ’s,” Wynonna smirked. They hadn’t had a chance to buy Nicole any of her own clothes yet, so she was currently in a pair of Waverly’s flannel pajama bottoms which were admittedly a little on the tight side, and had turned into three-quarter lengths with the height difference, and Waverly’s oversized college hoodie which said ‘HERstory’ in big letters on the front.

“What’s for breakfast?” Wynonna asked as she surveyed the chaos of condiments.

“Nicole is experimenting with pancakes,” Waverly explained, dancing her fingers over the top of Nicole’s thigh under the table. She felt Nicole’s arm around her tense slightly at the feeling.

Wynonna piled four pancakes onto her plate. “Any recommendations?” she asked. Nicole pulled her sheet of paper back in front of her and scanned her eyes down it.

“I particularly enjoyed the Nutella, Mayonnaise and Soy Sauce.” She spoke without a trace of humour and squeezed Waverly’s shoulder as a signal not to say anything.

Waverly’s fingers froze, there was no way that Wynonna would fall for such an obviously disgusting combination.

“Hmmm, that doesn’t _sound_ good.”

“Ah, but is that because you’ve tried it yourself or because your preconceptions of what _should_ work are getting in the way of experiencing what is actually a delicious meal?” Nicole replied smoothly.

Waverly watched in shock as Wynonna frowned, shrugged, and then began to layer the three toppings onto her first pancake before cutting a piece off and placing it into her mouth. She chewed perhaps three or four times before realisation dawned. She leapt up from her chair and retched, spitting what was left in her mouth into the sink.

The sheer volume of the laugh that came from Nicole was enough to fill the house, and she quickly jumped up from her chair as Wynonna launched towards her in a wild grab.

“YOU ARE SO FRICKEN’ DEAD HAUGHT.”

=========

Revenge. Sweet, sweet revenge.

Wynonna stood, admiring her creation. Waverly had left an hour ago with instructions to ‘look after Nicole’ and ‘don’t do anything stupid’. Ha. It was like she didn’t know her at all. She still had the taste of that pancake in her mouth, despite gargling with mouthwash for five minutes straight, and she’d be damned if she didn’t make Nicole pay for it.

“Why can’t I just wear my own trousers?” Nicole frowned as she looked at herself in the mirror, turning around and looking over her shoulder so she could see the back of her outfit.

“Because they’re super old fashioned, you want to fit in, don’t you?” Wynonna tried to hide her smirk as she handed Nicole another item. She turned it over in her hands, trying to work out which way round it was meant to go.

“Of course I want to fit in, but this seems a little…” Nicole trailed off.

Wynonna tried her best to act offended, “Oh I see, so you’re here for one day and you think you can judge our fashion?” She crossed her arms over her chest.

“No! No, I’m sorry, this is all just very different.” Nicole went to put one of her arms through the holes, but Wynonna interrupted her.

“No! Don’t do that! You’re meant to tie it around your waist.”

“But I know how to wear one of these.”

Wynonna shrugged. “What can I say, times have changed.”

Nicole hesitated, before proceeding to tie it around her waist.

“Aaand the finishing touch,” Wynonna shimmied her leather jacket off her shoulders and held it up by the collar, inviting Nicole to put it on.

“But what about you?” Nicole asked, sounding almost concerned.

“Ahh I don’t need to make a good impression! You can borrow it for today.”

The look of gratitude on Nicole’s face almost made her feel bad. Almost.

She grabbed Waverly’s camera from the desk and held the viewfinder up to her eye.

“Smile Haught,” she prompted, before snapping a few shots. It was mainly so she would forever have proof that Nicole went out in public in this outfit, no-one would be able to deny it happened when she had photographic evidence.

“You ready?” Wynonna asked.

Nicole grinned confidently.

“Yes! Teach me everything!”

Oohhh. She’d teach her alright.

==========

“Drink up Haught,” Wynonna instructed as two more shots of whiskey were placed in front of the two of them.

Nicole shook her head as she swallowed her third shot down, the white Stetson Wynonna had found in the back of Waverly’s closet threatening to fall off from the vigorous movement.

“Are you trying to get me drunk? It’s barely six.”

“Do you want to learn our customs or not?” Wynonna chided.

“Why aren’t you drinking?” Nicole narrowed her eyes at her.

“Unfortunately, I’m driving. And I may be an ass sometimes, but even I don’t drink and drive.”

The drive over to Pussy Willows had been eventful to say the least. Nicole had insisted on taking her seat belt off and sticking her head out the window as they sped down the road, and they’d almost been pulled over by Nedley.

They had arrived at Pussy Willows not half an hour before, and Wynonna was getting a great amount of satisfaction from all the strange looks Nicole was getting from the locals. Annoyingly, Nicole didn’t seem to notice. Furthermore, apart from the ‘absurd music’, the establishment itself didn’t seem to faze her either. Apparently, she had seen her fair share of ‘gentleman’s clubs’ throughout her travels of Europe. At this rate, it felt more like she was pranking Waverly.

If she truly wanted revenge, she would have to step it up a notch. She called over the bartender and asked him for a pen and some napkins. Once delivered, she slid them over to Nicole and tapped them, suggesting she should be taking notes.

“Listen up Haught, I’m going to teach you some of the essential things about living in the year 2020.”

Nicole’s eyes lit up and she hurried to grab the pen, holding it poised over the first napkin.

“So, first of all, and this one is important, especially for you. Now people don’t say it often, but if you were talking to Waverly, for example, and you wanted her to know just how much you loved her, like really, really loved her, you would walk right up to her and say ‘Hey Waverly, you’re my bitch.’”

Wynonna took a sip of her drink to cover her grin as she watched Nicole tilt her head to the side in thought, before deciding to scribble onto the napkin. What a gullible idiot. She prayed to every god she could think of that she would be there for the moment that Nicole used that one.

“How are we spelling bitch?” She asked innocently, looking up momentarily from the table.

“B-I-T-C-H” Wynonna sounded out.

“Huh, it really doesn’t sound like a very romantic word,” Nicole threw back another shot which had appeared next to her.

“I didn’t make it up,” Wynonna said in defense.

“… Fine. Okay, what’s next?”

==========

At some point around 10pm, Wynonna had given up trying to sound believable. Using Back to the Future part II as her main reference point, she’d given Nicole the full low down on how present day was different from the Victorian era, and Nicole had eaten it all up with barely a question. She’d gone through three napkins, front and back, her handwriting becoming less and less legible the more she drank. They’d covered hoverboards, flying cars, food hydrators, the lot.

To be fair to Nicole, she could hold her drink. If Waverly had drunk as much she would’ve been passed out on the floor by now. As it was, Nicole was still conscious and for the most part able to form a coherent sentence.

“Okay last one before we go see Waves.”

“Waves?” Nicole said excitedly, “Ugh I love her so much.”

“Nuh-uh, remember number one on the list!”

“Ahhh shit, she’s my bitch,” Nicole slurred.

“Yeah she is Haught-stuff, put it here!” Wynonna held her hand up, ready for a high five. Nicole made a wild swing for it with her fist and missed, instead falling face first onto the sticky floor.

It was then that she decided that it was probably time for them to leave, if she turned up at Shorty’s with Nicole battered and bruised then Waverly would literally kill her. She bent down and heaved Nicole back onto her feet, wrapping an arm around her waist to support her.

As she sat Nicole down in the passenger seat of her truck and put her seat belt on for her, Nicole grabbed Wynonna’s hand and squeezed it.

“For what it’s worth Wynonna, you’re my bitch too.”

Oh.

==========

Waverly yawned as she dried the tray of glasses. She certainly hadn’t missed this aspect of the job. The bar was empty; Waverly had told Shorty she would lock up as she was waiting for Wynonna to come and pick her up anyway.

As she lifted the tray and slid it under the counter, she heard a loud crashing sound from outside the front door, followed by two women laughing. She walked over to the door and unlocked it, and Wynonna stumbled in under the weight of Nicole’s arm slung heavily over her shoulders.

“What the hell are you wearing?” Waverly gasped.

“What the hell are _you_ wearing?” Nicole slurred in response, pointing at Waverly’s exposed stomach.

“This is my uniform.”

“Well this is Canadian custom,” Nicole retaliated, sweeping a hand in front of her own body, her English accent more exaggerated than usual.

Waverly took a moment to really appreciate the disaster that stood in front of her. Nicole was wearing purple space-themed yoga pants with a pair of Champ’s old soccer shorts over the top (she had been meaning to throw them out… or better, burn them), and a flannel shirt was tied around her waist. On the top half, she was wearing a Christmas sweater, what looked like Wynonna’s leather jacket, and to top it all off, Waverly’s white Stetson which she had worn once to a New Years Eve party. She slowly dragged her eyes over to her sister. Everything about this screamed Wynonna.

“Please tell me that you were drinking at home and just came here and that’s it?”

Wynonna opened her mouth to speak but Nicole cut her off.

“Nope! We’ve been at Pussy Willows.”

Waverly didn’t take her eyes away from Wynonna’s. She simply glared.

“Really,” she said flatly.

“And she taught me all about the uhm, the hoverboards, and the things that make tiny food into big food and…”

“She did, did she?” Waverly could feel the anger rising from deep within. She had asked Wynonna to do _one thing,_ and she’d decided Back to the Future Part II was acceptable teaching material? She thought she heard Wynonna audibly gulp. Good, she should be scared.

“Oh and one more thing Waves, and I want you to know I mean this from the bottom of my heart,” Nicole reached forwards and grabbed her hand.

Wynonna’s eyes were wide and she made a flailing attempt to cover Nicole’s mouth, but it was too late.

“You’re my bitch.”

===========

Waverly tried to control herself as her eyes drifted over Nicole looking in the mirror of the fitting room. After Nicole had realised that Wynonna had used clothes as an opportunity for revenge, she had demanded that Waverly take her to buy some of her own. She didn’t want to overwhelm Nicole by taking her to the city just yet, so Purgatory’s small second-hand store would have to do for now.

Nicole had had no idea what she was looking for, all she knew was that if she could accept Wynonna’s suggestions so easily, then she definitely didn’t want to be choosing for herself. Waverly had jumped at the opportunity to sift through the endless rails and produce a pile for her to try on.

Nicole had initially been critical, asking how she could possibly find something that fit her if it wasn’t custom-made, but it had soon become clear that that wouldn’t be an issue.

She had looked great in everything, but her current outfit was perhaps Waverly’s favourite so far: a pair of sturdy boots, an _extremely_ well-fitting pair of jeans, and a stripey long-sleeved t-shirt. Simple, yet surprisingly sexy.

“Are you sure it’s not all a little… _tight,_ ” Nicole asked as she looked in the mirror, turning to the side so it from a different angle.

Waverly realised she was staring at Nicole’s ass in the mirror and cleared her throat, looking back up to Nicole’s face instead. She was smirking at her, obviously aware of what Waverly had been doing.

“That good, huh?” Nicole chuckled.

“This one is definitely a keeper,” Waverly grinned, “do _you_ like it?”

Nicole smoothed her hands over the denim, brushing it as if trying to get rid of some dust.

“The fabric is going to take a while to get used to, but it at least seems pretty durable. Are you sure it looks okay?” The look of worry and uncertainty stabbed into Waverly. She was going to _kill_ Wynonna (again) for planting a seed of doubt in Nicole’s usual confidence.

Waverly walked over to Nicole and grabbed her arms, turning her away from the mirror so she was looking at Waverly instead.

“Nicole,” she said softly, “you look _amazing.”_ She leaned up to kiss her, so she knew just how amazing, but much to her surprise Nicole swerved out of the way, a look of panic on her face as she looked around the store.

“Waverly, there are people around,” she whispered.

Waverly frowned and looked around the shop, there were about three other customers wandering around the rails and pulling various items out, but no-one was paying them any attention. Then it hit her. Nicole had never kissed someone in public before.

She led Nicole back into the cubicle and pulled the curtain across. Nicole visibly relaxed at the privacy.

“Remember what I said when I first told you the truth? We have rights now Nicole, we could kiss out there and nobody would care.” She gently rubbed her hand up and down Nicole’s bicep, trying to soothe her. Nicole hung her head and closed her eyes.

“I know,” she murmured, “but I’ve lived that part of me in secret for my whole life. I’ve lived in constant fear of what would happen if people found out. It’s so _ingrained_. I can’t undo that in the space of 48 hours Waverly.”

Waverly moved her hand to Nicole’s chin and lifted it.

“Nicole, look at me.”

She hesitantly opened her eyes.

“You have _nothing_ to be ashamed of. But I understand that it’s going to take time. If you don’t feel comfortable showing affection in public just yet then that’s totally okay. I’ll just have to control myself,” Waverly winked.

Nicole slid her hands onto Waverly’s hips and puller her closer.

“It’s not that I don’t want to Waves, god I wanted to kiss you in the middle of the street the morning of our first kiss at the inn, but now that I actually can, I’m just overthinking everything, I’m sorry.”

Waverly’s fingers found their way up into the baby hairs at the back of Nicole’s neck and she pulled her down to place a soft peck against her lips.

“No apology needed.”

“I love you,” Nicole sighed.

“And I love you!” Waverly sang in response.

“Waverly? Is that you?”

Waverly turned her head in confusion to the curtain, her hands falling away from Nicole’s neck. That sounded like…

“Chrissy?” she asked uncertainly, still hidden from view.

“It is you! I thought I recognised that voice, get your butt out here!”

Waverly looked back at Nicole. Stupidly, they hadn’t come up with any details for their backstory yet, which meant they were going to have to think on their feet.

“Who is it?” Nicole whispered, her hands still on Waverly’s hips.

“Friend from high school,” Waverly whispered back. Waverly and Chrissy had been best friends all throughout their school years, but had drifted apart when they had gone to different colleges. After graduating, Waverly had moved back to Purgatory but hadn’t seen Chrissy around. She’d assumed she had moved away.

“Which one’s high school again?”

“Now is not the time,” Waverly hissed.

“Are you in there with someone?” Chrissy gasped, “oh my god is it Champ?”

At that somewhat horrifying suggestion, Waverly whipped back the curtain, Nicole dropping her hands in surprise at the sudden reveal.

“Oh,” Chrissy said wide eyed, “ _definitely_ _not_ Champ.”

“Hey!” Waverly jumped forwards and pulled Chrissy into a hug, spinning her around so she was facing away from Nicole. She made eye contact with her over Chrissy’s shoulder and mouthed “follow my lead.” Nicole nodded in understanding and tried to lean nonchalantly against the frame of the cubicle.

Chrissy pulled out of the hug but held onto Waverly’s arms as she beamed at her.

“I haven’t seen you in forever!” she looked over her shoulder at Nicole and then back at Waverly. “Looks like a lot’s been happening with you,” she said suggestively, wiggling her eyebrows.

“You could say that,” Waverly replied, allowing herself to laugh at just how much of an understatement that was.

“Chrissy, this is my girlfriend, Nicole.” It was strange saying it out loud, actually introducing her to someone as her girlfriend. Yet another first.

Nicole reached out her hand to shake Chrissy’s.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Nicole said as she flashed her winning smile.

“And you,” Chrissy replied.

She turned back to Waverly and murmured under her breath “Wow Waves, sexy _and_ English? _Definitely_ an upgrade from Champ.”

Waverly grinned, now that was something that she could wholeheartedly agree with.

“So how did you two meet?” Chrissy asked them both.

Time for Waverly’s least favourite pastime: lying.

“Travelling,” she began.

“Ohh is that where you’ve been? I bet you needed a break after all that diary stuff!”

Waverly almost choked mid-swallow. How on earth did Chrissy know about the diary??

“Wha- how do you know about that?”

Chrissy rolled her eyes and gestured at Waverly with her thumb.

“She’s always so modest isn’t she?” She said to Nicole, “Waves, _everyone’s_ been watching your show.”

Oh. Waverly had completely forgotten about that. Wynonna had mentioned it when she’d first visited, but that had been months ago, and she hadn’t really given it a second thought.

“Well I know it’s not your show per se, but your work is what set it all off! Oh my god have you met the cast??” She said excitedly.

Waverly hadn’t even _seen_ the show, let alone met anyone on it.

“Uhh no, too busy travelling! Not much internet…”

“Of course, of course." Chrissy's eyes drifted back over to Nicole, "Hey, you kind of look like the actress who plays Nicole Haught in the show, uhmm Catherine Barrelo? Maybe it’s just the red hair. Oh, and your name is Nicole, that’s so fun! I love it when freaky stuff like that happens.”

Nicole’s eyes widened slightly, but Chrissy was too preoccupied with her babbling to notice. “So… was it love at first sight?” she asked excitedly.

Waverly laughed, Chrissy had never been afraid to ask the big questions.

“Absolutely,” Nicole said, the corners of her eyes crinkled as she smiled at Waverly.

Chrissy let out a squeal that made Waverly jump.

“Ohh you guys are so cute!” Chrissy’s phone pinged and she quickly checked the screen, “Shoot, I’ve got to go, but we need to get together over drinks or something whilst I’m back and you can tell me everything!”

“Yes that sounds great!” Waverly replied, leaning in to hug Chrissy once again. Setting a later date for a catch up would give her plenty of time to come up with a more solid story about Nicole.

“I’ll text you!” Chrissy said as she made her way back into the main part of the shop, and waved once more as she went through the front door.

Waverly let out a sigh of relief and turned back to Nicole, thankfully she hadn’t had to make up too much on the spot.

“Can we watch it?” Nicole asked as she bent down to untie her bootlaces.

“The show?” She asked in surprise, “my show? _Our_ show?” Waverly had explained the premise of film and television to Nicole but she hadn’t seemed overly interested, arguing that nothing could be better than reading a book.

“Aren’t you curious as to what they’ve come up with? How the works of the great Nicole Haught have been translated from page to screen?” Nicole winked as she drew the curtain of the cubicle back in front of her.

“Your head is getting too big for your own good,” Waverly called from the other side, secretly glad that Nicole’s cockiness was still intact even after Wynonna’s prank.

“And you wouldn’t want it any other way!” Nicole retaliated.

Waverly grinned, she really, really, wouldn’t.

=========

“Those bastards cut me out!” Wynonna complained as ‘Wilhemina’ Edison introduced herself to Nicole for the first time, notably _without_ a sister. Waverly rolled her eyes and pressed pause, not wanting to miss anything whilst Nicole and Wynonna devolved into their inevitable argument.

“I guess you weren’t essential to the storyline” Nicole shrugged.

Wynonna huffed, “Yeah, and whose fault is that? You must have not mentioned me enough in your stupid diaries for them to think I was important.”

“I guess I had other things to be talking about.” Nicole kissed Waverly’s temple and went to grab a handful of popcorn from the bowl, but Wynonna snatched it away before she could.

As they began to bicker over her, Waverly allowed her mind to wander.

She had done a bit of research on the show beforehand and had found out that the team at the museum hadn’t made any notable developments in finding out who ‘W. Edison’ really was (thank god). Consequently, the writers had decided to just make something up and had gone with ‘Wilhemina’.

“I’m pressing play,” Waverly announced, hoping it would be enough to snap the other two out of it.

As the episode progressed, Nicole took it upon herself to point out every tiny inaccuracy, including but not limited to: the height of Doc’s top hat, the name of the butcher’s shop in the village, and the fact that her character had a dog (when she was quite obviously a cat person.)

“Just because something is accurate doesn’t mean it’s interesting to watch, Haught,” Wynonna said through a mouthful of popcorn.

“That’s probably why they left you out then,” Nicole clapped back.

“If you two don’t shut up, I am going to kick you out and watch this by myself,” Waverly warned.

Nicole repositioned herself on the couch so that there was space between her legs, and then pulled Waverly into the gap, wrapping her arms around her as she settled against her body.

“I promise I won’t say another word,” Nicole whispered into Waverly’s ear.

Waverly grinned and turned her head so she could give Nicole a quick kiss, before settling back down for the last ten minutes of the episode.

As the closing credits rolled, Wynonna stretched and stood from the couch.

“That guy who played Doc was quite something eh? What was he called? Tim Rozon?”

“Tom Rozin,” Waverly corrected.

Nicole frowned at her and Wynonna rolled her eyes.

“Obviously he’s not as good as the real one, jeez you’re so protective.”

“Speaking of Doc,” Waverly began, “are you going to come back with us tomorrow?”

“You’re leaving already?” Wynonna frowned.

Waverly sighed, she didn’t want to leave so soon, but it was already risky bringing Nicole here for as long as she had. They hadn’t _technically_ gotten authorization from BBD.

“You know how it is Wynonna, who knows what BBD will do if they find out.” After everything she and Nicole had been through to be together, she wasn’t about to risk it all just so they could enjoy the luxuries of modern life for a little while longer. “You know it’s safer for you to come see us.”

Wynonna pouted “yeah, yeah I know. Fine I’ll come with you tomorrow. But right now, I’m going to go and think about that Doc Holliday.” She pointed her thumb at the TV before sauntering off towards her bedroom.

Nicole scrunched her face, “Does she mean…?”

“Yep,” Waverly replied, trying not to think about it. She twisted her body round and pulled Nicole down next to her so they were both lying on the couch. She studied her face, brushing her thumb over Nicole’s bottom lip.

“Has it been okay?” she asked, “coming here, I mean.” She was still worried that everything had happened too fast for Nicole, that she’d overwhelmed her.

Nicole bent her head to kiss Waverly’s fingers.

“Waverly, I can’t even describe how happy I am right now. _Of_ _course_ it’s been okay. It’s been so much more than okay. I already can’t wait to come back. We _are_ coming back, right?”

Waverly smiled.

“Yeah,” she whispered, “we’re coming back.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO... Here we are, at the end. 
> 
> THANK YOU for coming on this strange time travel/gentleman jack Wayhaught story with me. It's been amazing. 
> 
> And because I have trouble letting go, I have entered the [very] early stages of writing a part two for this story. I can't tell you when it will be ready, as I'm going to write the whole thing before I start to post (just like I did here) and I don't know how long it's going to be yet, or if my ideas will even work. Also, I'm starting a full time job on Monday so I will have a lot less time to write, but just know that I'm not done with these two!  
> To quote Waverly: 'Yeah, we're coming back." 
> 
> Also I know Nicole's 'date of death' from chapter 1 caught a few people's attention and it was never addressed again in this fic, but all you need to know is that whilst Waverly may have forgotten, I have not... stay tuned for part 2! (at some point in the near or distant future)
> 
> And of course one last thank you to @Earperfamily for being my beta! 
> 
> As always I love to hear what you guys think on here or on twitter @Artemis_1707 and thank you to everyone who has left a comment or kudos on my work!
> 
> Hopefully see you all again soon!!!


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